Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Lansing at 3815 S Cedar St., Lansing, MI 48910-4501 US - Our Founding Pastor

Father Joseph Edward Wieber (1912-1997) was born in Lansing, Michigan, on Feb. 23, 1912. He attended old St. Joseph grade school in Holy Trinity Parish, Fowler, Michigan, Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit, and Mount St. Mary of the West, Norwood, Ohio. Ordination to the priesthood was at St. Mary Cathedral, Lansing, Michigan on June 3, 1939. Father Wieber served as assistant at St. Mary's Niles, Michigan, from 1939 to 1942. In 1942 he enlisted in the Navy at nearby Notre Dame University and attended chaplain school in Norfolk, Virginia. His first assignment was to open a Catholic chaplain's office at Camp Pendleton, a new Marine Corps base in California. His first overseas duty was as base chaplain of the First Marine Amphibious Corps Headquarters in New Caledonia. At the time, this was headquarters for all U.S. Marines in the Pacific. Father Wieber joined the Second Marine Division in New Zealand and took part in the invasion of Tarlawa, Saipan, and Tinian. When he left the Navy in 1947 he was chaplain at Corona Naval Hospital, Corona, California. In 1947 Father Wieber was named pastor of St. Mary's, Williamston. Here he supervised the construction of the parish hall and laid the groundwork for the purchase of the property for the school. In 1949 he was commissioned by Bishop Joseph Albers to found Immaculate Heart of Mary parish in Lansing. Negotiations were completed in March, 1949, for the purchase of property on South Cedar Street. Father Wieber extended and converted a large house on the property and rectory. The first permanent building on the property was the present church, constructed in 1955-56. In succeeding years Father Wieber converted the old church into a hall, supervised the construction of a grade school, and began construction of the convent. He also purchased the property north of the convent and that which is now occupied by the school. "He was a handy man in the sense of doing a lot of physical labor himself, "Msgr. Mehm said. "He did much of the carpentry, plumbing, and stuff like that." Fr. Wieber also began the IHM swiss steak dinner, an annual fund-raising event that continues to this day. In 1961 Father Wieber requested a transfer to the pastorate of St. Joseph in Howell, Michigan. Here he supervised the construction of the present church and rectory. He also sold the old church, hall and rectory properties and bought a addition to the new property. After his retirement in 1969, Fr. Wieber spent time out west in Arizona, where he opened a religious goods store. A funeral mass for Fr. Wieber was held at Immaculate Heart of Mary, on Feb. 13, 1997. He is buried in St. Joseph Cemetery.

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