About

Church History

Nearly one hundred years after Amos and Emily Orton built their mill on the Kearsley Creek, the Catholic community of Ortonville began to organize. Under the leadership of Fr. George Ging, pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Lake Orion, 60 families came together in 1949 to form the St. Anne Mission.  Masses were held at the old Grange Hall in the village of Ortonville until ground was broken for a church on what had been the Kruchko farm on M-15, one mile south of the village.  From those humble beginnings, the mission continued to grow.  It served the faithful of Brandon and Groveland Townships, who were for the most part farming families and residents of the village.  By 1957, the community had grown to 300 families and was ready to receive its first resident pastor.  On September 17th of that year, Fr. John Hardy arrived and St. Anne Church was officially established.  Fr. Hardy served until 1981 and has left an enduring mark upon our community.  Much change has occurred in the parish over the last five decades.  No longer a farming community, St. Anne Church has become a rural-suburban congregation of approximately 900 families.  The new church was built in 1990 and is unique in the Archdiocese of Detroit.  Its sacred space serves to draw parishioners around the table of the Lord in worship of God, friendship and the service of others.  Through the pastorates of Fr. Stanley Wyczawski, Fr. John Sullivan, Fr. Frank Pollie, Fr. C. Michael Verschaeve, Fr. Bernard Mullen and Fr. Gerry Frawley, the parish has been shepherded into the 21st Century.  St. Anne Church is poised for a bright future in this new millennium.