A History of Good Shepherd Parish  

On June 16, 1934, Reverend Fred Wieberg received his letter of appointment to found a parish in Hillsboro, Missouri. Father Fred arranged to have a chapel set up temporarily in the rear of a local barber shop. On July 8, 1934, he celebrated the first Mass for the new parish and later that day Donald Lassing became the first person baptized at Good Shepherd. By the way, Fr. Fred had requested "St. Bernadette" for the parish name but Archbishop Glennon named the parish "Good Shepherd" because Fr. Fred was to "go out and find the lost sheep in the hills of Jefferson County."

Construction of the church and rectory buildings was undertaken by the men of the parish. Excavation was halted for a brief time when one of the horses died while pulling the plow used to dig. The first Mass in the new church building occurred on November 18, 1934. On Thanksgiving Day Bishop Christian Winkleman dedicated the church. According to parish archives the church was built at a cost of $6208.17 and the rectory for $4082.03.

Good Shepherd Parish had no school of its own until 1947, when the second pastor, Rev. William Berkel, obtained two Ursuline sisters from Mt. St. Joseph, Kentucky, to teach in two temporary classrooms set up on church property until a recently purchased residence could be remodeled and used for school purposes. The school's first year of operation boasted an enrollment of forty pupils. Our present school was built in 1953.

There have been many changes since Fr. Fred celebrated that first Mass seventy-five years ago: Latin has given way to English, stained glass windows have been added, the church has been remodeled, a cafeteria has been added, the Ursuline nuns have departed. But throughout all these changes, and many others besides, there has been one constant - the faith of the people of Good Shepherd Parish. To those who have given so much of their time, their lives and their faith to make our parish what it is today we offer our heartfelt gratitude. May God continue to bless us for many years to come.

 Pastors of Good Shepherd Parish  

Father Fred Wieberg 1934-1940

Father William Berkel 1940-1948

Father James Huelater 1949-1952

Father George Scheer 1952-1958

Father Raymond Santen 1958-1969

Father Raymond Liermann 1969-1976

Father Joseph Lessard 1976

Father Donald Dyer 1977-1981

Father Donald Murphy 1981-1986

Father John Jakle 1986-1992

Father Michael Dieckmann 1992-2000

Father Dennis Schmidt 2000-2009

Father Christopher Holtmann 2009-