St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church: Heritage, Community, and News

A post-1975 aerial photograph of St. Vaclav (Wenceslaus) Church in rural Clutier. The church, now an oratory, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. Many of the evergreens visible in this photograph were wiped out by the 2011 derecho. PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE KADRMAS

CLUTIER – St. Wenceslaus Church located west of Clutier is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year alongside the town of Clutier which is also celebrating its quasquicentennial. In 1899, families from Carroll and southern Perry Townships formed the Society of St. Vaclav established a local Catholic church. St. Vaclav is Czech for St. Wenceslaus, the patron saint of Bohemia.

Catholic settlers in the area were served by priests traveling from Norway, Iowa. Holy Trinity Catholic Church was established in 1875 in northern Otter Creek township, a long trip by horse. On March 29, 1899, Mike and Bessie (Kopriva) Cizek donated one acre and sold three acres of land to the St. Vaclav Society. Work began on the stone foundation in the spring.

Members hauled 20 horse-drawn loads of lumber eight miles from Traer to the church site on September 11, 1899. The building was completed in late autumn 1899. At first, priests from Norway and Chelsea saw to the spiritual needs of the members. Mass was not celebrated every week. In 1900, the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad ran a line from Belle Plaine to Mason City and plotted the town of Clutier. There was talk about building a rectory for the priest to live in Clutier, but the parishioners wanted the house with the church. It was completed in the summer of 1901.

The first resident priest, Rev. Fr. Vincent Opava was assigned to St. Vaclav and Holy Trinity Churches in December 1900. He celebrated Mass on Christmas Day 1900 and baptized the first baby in the church, Charles Svoboda, son of Jan and Frantiska (Zmolek) Svoboda. Rev. Opava lived with the John Zmolek family until the rectory was completed.

The new church was referred to as the “Bohemian” church locally. Most of the members were Czech immigrants and their children. Early priests gave sermons in Czech. The first trustees of the church were Jan Nechanicky, Jan Zmolek, Jan Svoboda, and Vaclav Novotny. The first cemetery trustees were Frantisek Kvidera, Josef Kadrmas, Jan Nachazel, and John Stepanek.

The congregation of St. Vaclav Church in rural Clutier poses for a group photo outside the church on Oct. 20, 1901, as part of Confirmation Sunday. PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE KADRMAS

The Archbishop of Dubuque held confession and confirmation services at the new Bohemian church on October 18, 1901. Anna Vorba served as the first organist. She married Joseph Roushar in 1902. Among the earliest weddings in the church were Ed Kutin and Fannie Brestan, Joe Suchy and Mary Kuchynka, and Joseph Drahos and Magdalen Tomasek.

There were three burials in the cemetery before the church opened. The first was Lidmila, the infant daughter of John and Anna (Vorba) Stepanek in June 1899. Marie Vorba, 71, passed away November 3, 1899. Frankie Caslavka, 10-year-old son of Frank and Mary Caslavka died on November 27, 1899. The remains of Eliska Stepanek, Jan Vorba, Wesely Bruna, Kate (Brestan) Drahos, and Jan Podhajsky were moved to St. Wenceslaus Cemetery.

Rev. Alois Kolar became the second resident priest in 1904. A new rectory was built in Clutier in 1905 to serve both Holy Trinity and St. Wenceslaus. Rev. Kolar began offering Sunday services over the Clutier bank in December 1925. In 1909, the Bohemian Catholic Society bought the Clutier Methodist church building. Immaculate Conception Catholic church was dedicated on June 8, 1909.

Rev. Joseph Gregor, Rev. Jan Broz, Rev. Palcid Sasek, and Rev. Thomas Vopatek were the next four priests. They continued to serve St. Vaclav, Holy Trinity, and Immaculate Conception Catholic churches until 1919, when a resident priest was assigned to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Vining and Holy Trinity.

Father Vopatek continued to serve the Clutier churches. He oversaw the planning and construction of a new brick Immaculate Conception church building in Clutier. The church was completed in 1923. In 1925, the old church and the old Clutier school building were combined to create the Clutier Community Hall building. Countless dances, wedding receptions, bridal showers, dinners, reunions and social activities were held in the building.

A group of St. Vaclav Church’s female members pose for a photograph while working in the parsonage kitchen to prepare a special meal, date unknown. PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE KADRMAS

Celebration of Corpus Christi has occurred in some form from the early days of the church. The first altars on the procession may have been temporary. The first chapels were made of rough lumber. In 1925, chapels were built of hollow brick tile, covered with stucco on the outside and plaster on the inside.

In 1940, St. Wenceslaus bought an additional 2 1/2 acres around the church and cemetery. Two rows of Norway Spruce were planted on the west, north and east sides of the property.

In 1941, electric lights were installed. A basement was dug under the church. A new furnace was purchased and placed in the basement.

Tragedy struck in 1945, when Father Vopatek died of injuries received in an auto accident on U.S. 30 in Benton County. An estimated 1,000 people attended the funeral at Immaculate Conception Church in Clutier. The crowd outside was larger than the crowd inside. His grave at St. Wenceslaus Cemetery is near the entrance of the church.

Rev. Francis Ruzicka began his tenure in 1945. In 1948, he oversaw major renovations at St. Wenceslaus including an addition and remodeling. The ornate altar was replaced with a modern altar that featured the Crucifix against a maroon baldachin. New white oak pews were installed. The walls and ceiling were covered with Nu-Wood tile. A new rubber tile floor was installed in the nave, or central part of the church and carpeting in the sanctuary.

St. Vaclav Church in rural Clutier pictured in the 1930s. The house next to the church was eventually sold in 1956 and moved to the Frank Novotny farm southeast of the church; the farm later became the home of the Paul Svoboda family. PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGE KADRMAS

Stained glass windows featuring the Joyful Mysteries and the Glorious Mysteries of the Rosary were installed. New siding covered the exterior of the church, and a concrete drive was poured making a loop from the front of the church through the cemetery back to the road.

The house next to the church was sold in 1956 and moved to the Frank Novotny farm southeast of the church. It became the home of Frank and his sister, Madeline Kearny. The farm later became the home of the Paul Svoboda family.

Catherine Mclean began over 40 years of service as organist and choir director in the mid-1950s. She received a Papal Blessing for over 50 years of service as church organist from Pope John Paul II.

St. Wenceslaus and Immaculate Conception churches built a new multipurpose social center, religious education center, and new rectory in Clutier in 1966.

Rev. F. J Ruzicka continued to serve the parishes until his retirement in 1979. He spent his final years in Charles City near family. He died in 1994 and is buried at St. Wenceslaus Cemetery.

St. Vaclav after the 1948 remodeling. PHOTO COURTESY GEORGE KADRMAS

Rev. Albert Carman, Rev. Robert Cizek, and Rev. Louis Wunder were the next three priests to serve St. Wenceslaus and Immaculate Conception churches. Father Wunder also served a third parish, St. Boniface, in Garwin. He died of injuries received in an auto accident on Sunday, January 28, 1990, while returning to Clutier from Garwin.

Rev. Michael Mescher was the last resident pastor assigned to Clutier in 1990 before St. Wenceslaus merged with Immaculate Conception. In May 1992, Immaculate Conception was assigned to the care of the pastor of St. Paul Catholic church in Traer. St. Wenceslaus became an Oratory. An Oratory is a place of prayer other than the parish church, set aside by ecclesiastical authority for celebration of the Mass and devotional services. There are no regular services at St. Wenceslaus, but the annual Corpus Christi celebration has continued. It may also be used for weddings and funerals.

In 1999, meetings were held to discuss the future of the St. Wenceslaus Oratory. A committee was formed to oversee fundraising and repairs. The roof was shingled in 1999. Since then, minor repairs and painting have taken place. John and Marilyn Svoboda have organized the annual Corpus Christi celebration since it became an oratory.

Bev Colvin and Laurence Svoboda have served as church board members since 1992. Barb Svoboda and Warren Colvin have served as the cemetery board. Barb is the contact for purchasing cemetery plots. Paul Svoboda is the caretaker of the cemetery and grounds. George Kadrmas recently replaced Laurence Svoboda.

The 2011 derecho severely damaged the evergreens that line the cemetery. In 2016 the FCSLA Lodge 130, a local Catholic fraternal organization, oversaw fundraising to remove and replace the evergreen trees. Paul Svoboda oversaw the project and watered and cared for the trees.

St. Wenceslaus was a strong community for over 90 years when the priest shortage forced reorganization of local Catholic churches. The cemetery is a peaceful resting place of many of the early settlers in northern Tama County. The church building remains as a symbol of the faith of those early Czech settlers.