Grassy Lake, Our Lady of the Assumption Mission

Identity area

Type of entity

Corporate body

Authorized form of name

Grassy Lake, Our Lady of the Assumption Mission

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Description area

Dates of existence

1910-2001

History

By 1908 there was a small community of Catholic immigrants in homesteads to the south of Grassy Lake. Priests would occasionally travel there and celebrate Mass at the home of Joseph and Maria Ell or at hotel of John Ell. In 1910 Assumption Church was built 15 miles south of Grassy Lake on land donated by John and Joseph Ell. The land was in the midst of a settlement of Russian Germans who had come from the United States for many years known as Ellsville. It was first visited by Fr. Karl Meyer OMI from Lethbridge, apparently in 1911. In 1921 Fr. Hermes OMI was appointed to care for the mission, as well as others in the south-east. Fr. E.J. McCoy had been caring for Assumption from Bow Island and a petition had been sent to Bishop McNally from the parishioners asking for a German-speaking priest. In 1923 Fr. Hermes was still caring for the mission. After 1927 Fr. Bidault left these missions it was cared for from Bow Island. By 1946 the Grassy Lake mission was in need of repair and the parishioners wanted a new building in town. Fr. Rouleau at Bow Island bought an army hut, moved it from Medicine Hat and used it without much adaptation. In 1952-3 Fr. D.T. Sullivan had the hut renovated and it was blessed by Bishop Carroll on September 24, 1953 under the title of the former mission church which had been built fifteen miles from Grassy Lake. The former church was dismantled and the cemetery surrounding it was improved. In 1944 the Catholic Women’s League of the district of Assumption Church bought a disused school building for use as a parish hall. This was transferred to the Diocese that year. In 1956 this building was moved to the town of Grassy Lake and used there as a parish hall. Grassy Lake had been a mission of Bow Island until 1967 when it was made a mission of Taber. The mission remained a vibrant community until the mid-1990s. The exodus of young peopleIt was closed in 2001.

Places

Grassy Lake, AB

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Mission

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Authority record identifier

CA RCDCA AR G1

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Status

Draft

Level of detail

Partial

Dates of creation, revision and deletion

Created 2021-04-01

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