Our Pastors

Our Pastors

  • Rev. August Young, 1880-1882; 1883-1884
  • Rev. Peter Franzen, 1882-1883
  • Rev. Maximilian Benzinger, 1884-1897
  • Rev. Herman Juraschek, 1897-1899
  • Rev. Peter Schmitt, 1899-1900
  • Rev. John Schmitz, 1900-1910
  • Rev. George Angermaier, 1910-1915
  • Rev. Michael Aichinger, 1915-1920
  • Rev. Francis Zerhusen, 1920-1922
  • Rev. Charles Scholl, 1922-1926
  • Rev. Otto Peters, 1926-1929
  • Rev. Theodore Fettig, 1929-1931
  • Rev. Gustave Hottenroth, 1931-1936
  • Rev. Leon Pisula, 1936-1945
  • Rev. Lawrence Fettig, 1945-1953
  • Rev. Edward Roswog, 1953-1958
  • Rev. Aloysius Phillips, 1958-1963
  • Rev. Paul Miller, 1963-1970
  • Rev. Matthew Lange, 1970-1982
  • Rev. Eugene Zimmerman, 1982-1989
  • Rev. David Carkenord, 1989-2018

Rev. Vincent Joseph, VC, 2018-present; We warmly welcome Fr. Vincent as our first missionary priest at St. Michael the Archangel. He was officially installed as our pastor on July 29, 2018.

Father David Carkenord | A Tribute

Father Dave was ordained as a diocesan priest in May 1962. He served the first half of his priesthood in Elkhart and Fort Wayne before coming to Waterloo in 1989, where he served as our pastor for 29 years. Father Dave will always be remembered as a priest who modeled compassion, love, understanding, and openess to our church and the Catholic faith. He always met people where they were in life, and had a way of making you feel as though God loved you no matter what, and everything was going to work out ok. 


Father Dave always had an ornery grin and twinkle in his eye. His ability to make those around him feel comfortable, welcomed, and invited left an impression on so many as to how to LIVE the Catholic faith. He lived each day trying to walk as Jesus did, and so many can recall a moment when he really touched their lives.


When visitors came to our church for Mass or a wedding, they were eager to share how down-to-earth Father Dave was. His homilies challenged each of us to live out the Gospel in our daily lives, right here, right now, in our little piece of the world. His personality had a way of drawing people in and allowing them to get to know Jesus. 


The 2010 church restoration was his legacy to St. Michael the Archangel. I think, to him, the restoration was about recognizing the founding families' work of establishing our parish, and also preserving our beautiful worship space for future generations. This massive project was a huge undertaking, and Father Dave was the right man for the job. He united our parish, secured the funds, and saw the project through. It gave our parish a renewed sense of togetherness, and together, we'll continue our mission. 


He was a most generous man who gave all that he had to St. Michael the Archangel Parish. When he reached the typical retirement age of 75, he knew that our parish still needed him to lead us. He continued his work until age 81. Father Dave, we will forever hold you in our hearts. You showed us how to reach out to others, show them Jesus' compassion, and feed them with the Bread of Life. Thank you for your most fruitful pastoral work at St. Michael the Archangel Parish. 

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