History of Holy Trinity

Rollingstone was settled in the 1850s by immigrants from Luxembourg. They brought with them a strong Catholic faith. The faith is what uned and held the immigrants together in an unfamiliar land. Many of the family names of the immigrants from Luxembourg are still in the area.

The first Mass was offered by Father Matthew Sternberger in 1857 in the log cabin home of Peter Stoos. A need for a permanent church was evident and the planning process began for Holy Trinity. Peter Stoos donated the land for the church that was built in 1869 by the entire village. On July 22, 1869, Bishop Thomas Grace of Saint Paul Diocese dedicated the church with Father Alois Plut assisting. The church towered over the village and the bells rang out the Angelus three times a day.

In 1877, the first resident priest, Father Nicholas Schmitz, was assigned to the parish. Father Schmitz, born in Luxembourg, was assigned to the parish in 1890.

In 1893, the church was enlarged by volunteers from the Rollingstone community. The church was rededicated by Bishop Joseph Cotter on October 24, 1893. Masses at Holy Trinity Parish were offered in Lëtzebuergesh and Latin until well into the 1920s.

Education was an immediate obligation to the settlers of Rollingstone. In 1860 the need for Catholic education was met. A secular school was built with the settlers renting a large portion of the building for the religious education of the youth. In 1891, the Milwaukee Province of Franciscan nuns arrived to run the school. The Holy Trinity School was built in 1920 under the direction of Father Anthony Hennekes. The Sisters of Saint Francis, Rochester assumed the Franciscan Sisters, Milwaukee in 1922. The school remained open for four decades. 

The Luxembourg immigrants built a foundation for the Catholic faith in the rural community of Rollingstone. They established traditions from their homeland that are still evident in the community today. 

Holy Trinity Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 9, 1984. 

Pastors who have served the parish over the years: Fathers William Lette, Philip Matthew OSB, Theodore Venn, Alois Plut, Lawrence Zawadski, Pius Schmid, James Gessel, Nicholas 

Schmitz, Anthony Hennekes, Stephen Majerus, Peter Tibessar, Raymond Redder, Leland Smith, Francis Klein, Louis Cook, Donald Loosbrock, Edward, McGrath, Michael Cronin, Donald Lovas, James Steffes, Thomas Melvin, William Kulas, and Chinnappa Pothireddy.