St. Cunigundis (St. Cunigunda) Catholic Church
Marienthal Saskatchewan Canada
Marienthal SK (RM of Cambria #6)
NW1/4-Sec12-Twsp 1-R12-W2
(9 miles south of Torquay, Saskatchewan)

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The present Roman Catholic parish of Torquay comprises of the former parish of Marienthal, and what was for over fourty years, until 1949, the mission of Torquay.

The distinction between these two congregations whose churches were only nine miles apart was: Marienthal became the gathering point for the German speaking settlers and Torquay for the French speaking settlers.

In the early years of this century there were no roads nor civialization west of Estevan, about thirty miles away by prairie trail to Torquay. About 1902-1903 the first pioneers arrived in the Marienthal and Torquay districts. There were no stores or mail service until 1907-1908 and no roads until 1909.

The first priest Rev Father Joseph Luyten arrived from Estevan one day in 1904, and came to the home of Daniel Schnell. He heard confessions and had Mass there at least once in 1904, and a couple of times in 1905. In the fall of 1906 Fr Oscar Kuonen of Estevan provided religious service on a monthly basis. From 1905-1907 Holy Mass was celebrated at the home of Daniel Schnell; 1907-1908 at Stephen Wanner's; 1908-1909 at the George Friess home.

As early as June 1907, this mission south of Torquay,which was still without a church, was officially given the name of Marienthal (Valley of Mary) by Archbishop Louis Philippe Langevin, O.M.I. of St. Boniface, during his pastorial visit to the Estevan district, then under his jurisdiction because the diocese of Regina had not yet been founded.

In 1908 it was decided to build a church and that fall the first Marienthal Church was built, located on NW1/4-Sec 12-Twsp 1- Rge 12-W2. This ten acres of land was donated by Anton Wanner for the church and a cemetery. Fr Dupraz of Estevan blessed this church under the title of St. Cunigundis on February 14, 1909.

Tragedy struck on February 8,1916 when the church was destroyed by fire. During the summer of 1916 the excavation was made for the foundation of a new and larger church (82 feet by 44 feet),six feet down and four feet above ground. This time it remained a basement church.It served the congregation until 1962. A few years later the unused church was sold and the new owners built their house on top of this basement.

Priests that served in this district were: Fr.Joseph Rheindl Aug 1913-1915 (he was the first resident priest); Fr.Jacob Wilhelm, Dec 1915-1918; Fr.Joseph Rheindl, Oct 1918-Dec 1921; Fr.Aloysius Sommerfeld in 1922 (came once a month from Weyburn; Fr.Johann Zimmerman, 1922-1923 (came monthly); Fr.Andreas Zimmerman, Apr 1924 - Dec 1930 (resident priest); LaSalette Fathers, Dec 1930-Aug 1931; Fr.E.Kwakman, Aug 1931-Nov 1935,(in charge of Marienthal and Torquay); Fr.Peter Rubbens, Nov 1935-1962. Father Rubbens was the parish priest of Sacred Heart Church at Torquay until the fall of 1992.

• On site inspection of cemetery and recording of data from the headstones by Rosemary Mack, in August 1985.
  
• A few dates of birth and death were recorded from the church records by Faith Stepp of Torquay, in October 1994.
  
• There are a few names in the register that Faith was unable to decipher and a few surnames were improperly spelt.
  
• This list maybe incomplete, as I only counted 128 graves and there were a few more burials in the early 1900's. There are 34 crosses without names and a few graves without markers.
  
• I also recorded some information from the Torquay and Estevan community history books and from some relatives. Also from microfilm of obituaries in the Estevan newspaper, I found some information.

  Compiled and submitted by:

  Rosemary Mack Bienfait SK Aug 1985 updated: Aug 1993; Oct 1994