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  • We welcome you to our Sts. Mary and Joseph Cluster Parishes of Hills, Lone Tree and Nichols. 

  • In 1874, The Church of St. Mary, Nichols Station was built, with a resident pastor in 1877. The church was rebuilt after a fire in 1920. 

  • In 1874, St. Mary Church of Lone Tree was built, with a pastor in 1877. A larger structure was built in 1914. 

  • In 1903, St. Joseph Church, Hills, was built. By 1909, a rectory, school, and barn were built and a convent was provided. 

  • In 1989, Mrs. Carol Kaalberg was commissioned as the first parish life coordinator in the Diocese by Bishop Gerald O’Keefe, ministering to Lone Tree and Nichols. 

  • In August 2010, the St. Joseph, Hills, parish was added to the cluster and a new Pastor, Father Bill Kneemiller, was assigned for the three-parish cluster. In 2012, Father Michael Spiekermeier became pastor and Mrs. Carol Kaalberg became the Cluster Coordinator of the three cluster parishes—St. Joseph, Hills; St. Mary, Lone Tree; and St. Mary, Nichols.

  • On June 30, 2021, Father Spiekermeier retired from priest ministry and on July 1, 2021, Father Hai Dinh became Pastor for the Sts. Mary and Joseph Cluster Community. On July 1, 2024, Father David Paintsil became our Parochial Administrator.

Father David Paintsil 

Mrs. Carol Kaalberg

Pastoral Associate

Father Lou Leonhardt, retired, assists with ministry in our three parish cluster.

Our Lady of Lourdes parish in Zorange, Haiti, is our cluster sister parish. For several years, we have sent a lay volunteer to Haiti to work with ServeHaiti in their medical and educational mission at St. Vincent de Paul Clinic in Grand Bois, Haiti, and at our sister parish. Our cluster ladies did a lot of sewing projects for the children of Haiti, and several years ago we provided the funds for digging a well to serve their needs. We keep them in our prayers.

St. Stanislaus Church, a predecessor church to St. Joseph, Hills, was built in 1853 just west of Hills. After it was restored, it is now used for Memorial Day Masses at the St. Stanislaus Cemetery.

St. Mary Cemetery, on a country hill, two miles west of Nichols is used by the Nichols and Lone Tree parishes.

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