ABOUT US
Read below to see what St. Patrick's Church of Melrose is all about, who helps organize and run things
behind the scenes, and learn about the church's rich history,
FR. RON HODGES
DEACON ED KAMERICK
Fr. Ron Hodges joined the St. Patrick's Melrose parish in the summer of 2024.
He says, "I suppose you could say I have lots of hobby type things I enjoy. I enjoy cooking and canning. And I am at some point going to master sourdough bread if it kills me. I enjoy shooting sports and I like tinkering with radios. I'm an amateur radio operator, and I love to read."
Southern Iowa native Ed Kamerick, his
wife Jane and four children have been long-standing members of the St.
Patrick's Melrose parish.
Jane and Ed stepped up to lead Melrose's religious education
classes, but Ed felt the need to be and
do more. He was ordained as a
permanent deacon in 2013.
Fr. Ron and Deacon Ed serve the parishes of St. Mary's, Centerville and St. Patrick's, Melrose.
PARISH COUNCIL MEMBERS
President: Tim Kasper
Council Members: Julie Anderson, Steve Heffron, Dennis Kurimski, John E. Lawless, Mike Teno, Tony Sinclair
Trustees: Bernie Evans, Kris Knowles
ALTAR AND
ROSARY
President: Kellie Sinclair
Secretary: Josey Ryan
Treasurer: Marty
​
ST. PATRICK'S
SUPPORT STAFF
Secretary: Jane Kamerick
Organists: Brigitte Mohler, Kristi Evans
Grounds Caretaker: Vince Feehan
ST. PATRICK'S HISTORY
Local author and St. Patrick's parishioner Evelyn Tierney published a book, But of Course They Were Irish, about the history of Melrose, Iowa. Evelyn's book includes great recollections of St. Patrick's Church in Melrose from different time periods - some excerpts are shared below.
"St Patrick's Parish existed before there was ever a building on the hill. It came over on the boats with the people from Ireland as surely as did the clothes on their backs and the shoes on their feet. It came in the hearts and souls of those Irish men and women, and they wasted no time getting a church built 'up there on that hill'.
​
At first it was just a mission church, located just west of the present school building. It was a log church served by the Stacyville (later Georgetown) priest who came to Melrose one or two Sundays a month when the weather allowed. Father Leo Ward said, 'A log church?
I never remember seeing it and I never saw a picture of it, but I was baptized in it'.
​
In 1874, the congregation gained a priest of their own when the Rev. J.J. Cadden, an Irishman like the most of them, came to St. Patrick's."
"Priests of St. Patrick's
Father J. J. Cadden 1874 - 1890
Father John O'Rielly 1890 - 1901
Father T. R. Brownrigg 1901 - 1909
Monsignor W. J. McCormick 1909 - 1932
Father D. C. Browne 1932 - 1937
Father J. J. Welsh 1937 - 1942
Father Myles T. Gaffney 1942 - 1948
Father Francis Lenoch 1948
Father R. J. McGrath 1948 - 1957
Father John Morrissey 1957 - 1967
Father Eugene Hoenig 1967 - 1978
Father John Schmitz 1978 - 1982
Father George Hoenig 1982 - 1984
Father Ernest Braida 1984"