Wisconsin family’s Catholic faith bears fruit across generations

For more than 150 years, the Catholic faith of one Wisconsin family has continued through generations of descendants called to marriage, religious life, and ordained ministry.

Sister Mardelle Meinholz, a Franciscan Sister of Christian Charity, shared her family’s Catholic history in an Aug. 20 account published by her religious community.

Across its branches, the Meinholz family has included four Franciscan sisters, three diocesan priests, a transitional deacon, and the current archbishop of Milwaukee. That legacy gained another chapter in May when Father Barry Meinholz, a great-great-grandson of the family’s immigrant ancestors, was ordained for the Diocese of Madison.

The family’s history in Wisconsin began in 1867, when Johann and Anna Marie Meinholz left Germany with their four surviving children and settled in Ashton.

In later generations, three of the couple’s descendants entered the Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc, in the eastern part of the state.

Sister Mardelle, who comes from another branch of the family, followed them into the same community and marked 50 years of religious profession in 2020.

Several men in the family also pursued the priesthood. Father John Meinholz served the diocese before his retirement, and Father David Meinholz was ordained for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1994. Father David served for nearly 13 years before dying of a heart attack at 41.

Another relative, Cornelius Meinholz, contracted influenza during the pandemic that began in 1918 and later developed tuberculosis. He died at age 22 after being ordained a transitional deacon but before his priestly ordination.

The family’s history of ordained service also includes Milwaukee Archbishop Jeffrey Grob, who grew up on a dairy farm in Cross Plains. Ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1992, he became a bishop in 2020 and archbishop of Milwaukee in 2024.

Archbishop Grob has described his call as a bishop as one of complete service to the Church.

“Once you say yes to being a bishop, you belong entirely to the church,” he said. “You’re called to serve, and you go. And my good fortune brought me to Milwaukee.”

The account places marriage and family life at the heart of the Meinholz story, calling it “the building block of all the vocations.”