History

St. Ambrose Catholic Parish, situated in Wall, Texas near the center of the Lipan Flats, has a very rich history deeply rooted in its peoples’ past. The main theme throughout the parish is a perpetual love between the people and the Catholic church. This love is obvious when looking back at the founding of St. Ambrose and its first fifty years.


During the 1920’s and 1930’s a large migration of German and Czech families moved to the Wall area to farm and make themselves a home. The majority of these people were from the St. Joseph and St. Boniface parishes in Runnels county. Some families were from farther places including Falls and Colorado counties.

Since these families were overwhelmingly Catholic, they brought their faith with them along with their plows and pioneer spirit. These Catholic families were attending Mass at Sacred Heart parish in San Angelo, and the children attended catechism classes there, also. During this time the Wall Catholics recall that when the festival was held, the country people were relied upon to bake the turkey and to help work at the festival. The celebration was usually held downtown and included a dinner and a dance.

As the Catholic population grew, an apparent need for a Catholic church developed. During the summer of 1940, several of the Catholic families met in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gerngross, Sr. to discuss the possibility of building of a Catholic church in Wall. Those present were:

Mr. and Mrs. Frank HIrt Mr. and Mrs. Elo Wilde
Mr. and Mrs. A.W. Strube, Sr. Mr. and Mrs. Mack Halfmann
Mr. and Mrs. Ben Book Mr and Mrs. W.E. Mikulik
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gerngross, Sr.

At this time the Diocese of San Angelo had not yet been formed and this area was part of the Diocese of Amarillo. This bishop of the Amarillo Diocese was Most Reverend Robert E. Lucey.

Shortly after this meeting, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Gerngross, Sr. and Mr. and Mrs. Mack Halfmann went to visit the pastor of St. Joseph Catholic church in Rowena. The pastor was the late Rt. Rev. Monsignor Francis J. Pokluda. Monsignor Pokluda had a keen interest in the growing number of Catholics at Wall, especially since many of them came from Rowena and he knew them personally. Monsignor Pokluda was very much in favor of starting a new church, and in Wall. He wanted to get the rest of the community involved. He wanted to find a place where they could start having Mass and promised to provide a priest for it.

A meeting was held at the Wall school auditorium on July 18, 1940. All the Catholics in the area were invited to attend and discuss the possibility of beginning a new parish and building a new church. Monsignor Pokluda led the discussion at this meeting of about sixty people. At that meeting the original Church Committee was selected and consisted of:

Frank Hirt Frank Gerngross, Sr.
Ben Book W.E. Mikulik
Elo Wilde Raymond Glass

These men also served as the building committee.

Since it was evident that the people wanted a new parish and church, Sunday Masses began to take place at the Methodist Church in Wall. Either Monsignor Pokluda or Father Charles Knapp both living at St. Joseph parish in Rowena would drive to Wall for Sunday Mass. The Herman Franke family moved their pump organ to the Wall Methodist Church so their daughter Dorine Franke (Kozelsky) could play hymns for Mass.

The next obstacle facing the new parishioners was the location for the church. There was much discussion about the best location and some disagreements followed.

Prior to this time, Felix Braden had donated land to the Diocese of Amarillo and Catholic sisters were operating a school north of Wall called St. Anthony (from 1929-1937). The last report of the school records showed 2 lay teachers and 67 children. Felix Braden would have liked the new church built at St. Anthony but Monsignor Pokluda insisted on building the church at Wall where it would be near the town and also be located on a major highway (US 87). It is interesting to note that in the 1948 St. Ambrose Financial Report, the Diocese sold the property back to Felix Braden for $1,000 and the Diocese donated the sale value of $1,000 to the St. Ambrose building fund.

In the summer of 1940, Monsignor Pokluda wrote four letters (July 25, August 15, August 31 and October 16) to church committeeman Elo Wilde concerning the purchase of land for the church site. According to these letters, it took at least four months of discussions and negotiations to finalize the purchase of the property. Part of the process was a visit of the bishop on Sunday, September 8, 1940 at 4:00 p.m. at the home of A.W. Strube, Sr. The last letter dated October 16 mentioned another meeting was planned for October 20, with A.W. Stube, Sr. present; the purchase of the land was finalized October 23, 1940. The 1941-42 St. Ambrose Financial Report documents the present location was purchased from A.W. Strube, Sr. for $900.

Several of the original parishioners recall the conflict regarding the placement of the church building. It seems the bishop wanted the church building adjacent to the highway or curb as churches are placed in towns. The church committee wanted the church further from the highway for safety reasons. Monsignor Pokluda preferred the present location so he would have room behind the church for his sister Miss Mary’s chickens. The next decision to be reached was to find water by drilling a well.

In 1940, a fall festival was held at the Wall school to generate funds for the parish. The proceeds totaled $1,763. Many of our women parishioners recall peeling potatoes and washing dishes by hand for this festival. Since the members of the new Wall parish were mostly from Runnels county, many of the Catholic people from St. Boniface parish in Olfen and St. Joseph parish in Rowena contributed generously to aid the new parish with the construction of its church and rectory. As an example of this generosity, W.H. and Annie Wilde of Olfen donated $1,000 to help the church get started. These were very unselfish acts considering that the families were recovering from thirteen years of world depression.



Ground was broken for the new church by Monsignor Pokluda on February 24, 1941, on the feast of Mathias the Apostle. The weather was cold and wet that day so only the groundbreaking ceremony was held. On Ash Wednesday, digging resumed for the foundation of the church. The men of the parish volunteered word and dug the foundations, hauled gravel and mixed concrete for the church and rectory.



The architect for the new church was John G. Becker and the contractor was C.S. Mills.

The cornerstone of the new church was blessed on April 6, 1941, with around 300 people attending the occasion. Officiating at the cornerstone laying services were Monsignor Pokluda, Father Charles Knapp from St. Josephs parish in Rowena, Reverend G.A. Boeckman from St. Boniface in Olfen and Reverend Bartholomew O’Brien, chaplain of St. John’s Hospital of San Angelo. On January 22, 1941 Bishop Lucey had been appointed the Archbishop of the Province of San Antonio and the Amarillo diocese was vacant. Monsignor Pokluda was appointed Administrator during the interim until Most Reverend Laurence J. Fitzsimmons, D.D. took office as bishop on November 5, 1941.



The church and rectory were completed in 1941 at costs of $18,293.84 for the church and $7,171.65 for the rectory. The church was built in Roman style and its exterior design was influenced by the Basilica of St. Ambrose in Milan, Italy.

The church was dedicated on December 7, 1941, on the feast of St. Ambrose and thus given its present name. Officials at the dedication were Most Reverend Laurence J. Fitzsimmons D.D., the new Bishop of Amarillo, Reverend Virgil Kaiser, Father Charles Knapp, Reverend G.A. Boeckman, Reverend Bartholomew O’Brien and Monsignor Pokluda. Alter boys were Daniel Hirt, Eugene Hirt, Bernie Franke, James Zentner, Bernard Moeller, and A.W. Strube Jr.

The parish men barbequed the dedication dinner and the women of the parish served the meal. Everyone present at the dedication remembers the announcement of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As of that day, 84 families with 300 souls were registered at St. Ambrose Parish.

The official decree establishing St. Ambrose as a parish was signed by Bishop Fitzsimmons on January 31, 1942. The geographical boundaries of the parish were established and Monsignor Pokluda appointed the first pastor.

The tradition of the annual fall festival continued to be a major source of funding for the St. Ambrose parish. According to the 1946 Financial Report, the first beef donations were recorded for the parish social. The 1947 report mentions the first donations of cotton and cash donations for the auction. A total of 6,979 pounds of cotton were donated by 51 farmers and $106.50 was contributed by 42 men for the auction. This cotton was ginned free of charge by the Wall Gin Company, Mikeska Gin, and A.J. Hoelscher Gin.

In 1949, the Financial Report showed a total of 34 bales of cotton donated by the parishioners. All of this cotton was ginned by Wall Gin Company, A.J. Hoelscher Gin, Hiway Gin, Van Court Gin, Mikeska Brothers Gin and Veribest Gin without charge to St. Ambrose.

The 1950 Financial Report indicates the building fund had a total of $11,619.20 for future use. Of this amount, $10,000 was loaned to Rowena parish at 3% interest.

In 1955, an all brick educational building was completed under the guidance of Father Jerome Vitek. The metal hall was built in 1961 under the supervision of Father Joseph Walters and was enlarged in 1967. Other improvements on the parish grounds included a garage, well house, and restrooms.

In 1963, a new mission church was established in neighboring Mereta and was named Holy Family Catholic Church. The church was built with the aid of a $10,000 grant from the Catholic Church Extension Society under the guidance of Father Bernard J. Binversie. The land was donated by Mr. And Mrs. Ed Wanoreck, Sr. of San Angelo. The Holy Family Church in Mereta is served by the pastor of St. Ambrose.

St. Ambrose Church was remodeled in 1981 under the guidance of Father Kevin J. Heyburn in accord with the reforms of Second Vatican Council. This project included refurbishing the main marble alter, providing air conditioning, and installing stained glass windows.

Most recently, in 1988 the metal hall was replaced by a larger, more accommodating structure complete with a new kitchen and barbeque pits, a meeting room and a stage. The new hall was attached to the brick building, which was renovated into a complete CCD center. This major project was completed under the direction of Father James Plagens, and was finished in time for the 1988 fall festival.

The congregation has grown to almost 300 families in 2000. Purchases have expanded the Parish's property from 6 to over 22 acres.