Knights of Columbus Council #4179

HOLY FAMILY COUNCIL 4179

In 1955, Knights of Columbus Council 364 was the only KC Council in the Springfield area. With a recognition by the KC Supreme Council that Springfield had growing and sprawling urban areas, a decision was made to create two new Councils in Springfield – one of which would be located on the far south side of town. That new “south” Council was officially chartered on February 12, 1956 as Holy Family Council 4179 with Harold Pacha as its Charter Grand Knight. The name Holy Family Council was chosen by its charter members to reflect the desire of the membership to be a family-oriented organization. As with all Knights of Columbus Councils, membership is limited to Catholic men and there are mandates that the Council be involved in youth-oriented, charitable and community service activities as well as providing a foundation for fraternalism.

The Council originally met at the Church of the Little Flower but quickly recognized that it needed its own club rooms in order to provide a multitude of services to its members and their families. In the summer of 1956, it petitioned for and was awarded a lease on property on Lake Springfield. The foundation and basement of the original clubhouse (which still stands today) was completely hand dug with no heavy equipment. Among the first events held at the new, basement-only clubhouse were children’s Christmas and Easter parties. In 1957, plans were adopted to build the first floor on top of the basement. In order to pay for the materials, the Council issued Promissory Notes in the amount of $25 which were purchased by its members. The Promissory Notes were over-subscribed. Even in the past year (2007), two of these promissory notes have been redeemed. The upstairs on the club house was originally completed in 1958. In the 1970s and 1980s, there were several remodelings of the upstairs and downstairs. In the past couple of years, there have been extensive additions to the grounds including a new concrete patio and a new picnic pavilion.

Leadership over the past 50 years has been one of the strong points of Holy Family Council. Much of that leadership has been provided by the following list of men, all of whom served at least one year as a Grand Knight: Harold Pacha, John Brennan, Bill (Pistorius) Miller, Rusty Schweighart, Russ Lewis, Dale Yung, George Van Leer, George Murphy, John Nash, Bill Conboy, Lawrence Evoy, Jerry Zoellner, Fred O’Connor, James Hanna, Tony (Schrage) Trent, John O’Shea, Mike Troesch, Carl Szabo, Bill Spainhour, Jim Enlow, Gary Schmidt, Bill Wehmhoff, James Van Leer, David Murphy, Paul Ten Eyck, Larry Smith, Don Babb, Jerome Themig, Phil Talley, Steve Mann, Fred O’Connor, and Chris Reichert.

Over the past fifty years, there have been countless activities and events for both members and their family and friends at Holy Family Council. Among these are children’s Christmas, Easter, and Halloween parties in all 5 decades; Turtle fries in the 50s & 60s; Luaus in the 60s & 70s; Boat Races in the 60s, 70s, 80s & 90s; a youth water ski team in the 60s, 70s, & 80s; SuperBowl parties in the 90s & 2000s; and family fireworks watching parties in the 90s and 2000s.