Symbol of St. Anthony honors Fr. Anthony Kroeger, first spiritual director of the Sisters

The East and West doors of the St. Joseph Chapel feature six windows each. The 12 glass panels feature a symbol that represents as Saint in honor of a Sister, Priest or Bishop who was instrumental in the history of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Tipton. The order was established in 1888 and the Chapel was built in 1957. (Third in a series of 12.) 

The St. Anthony image on the third window of the west door honors of Father Anthony Kroeger the first spiritual director of Sisters of St. Joseph of Tipton. 

Fish, with their heads out of the water, is a symbol of St. Anthony of Padua. In a story from the life of St. Anthony, when people refused to listen to him, he turned to the lake where fish heads appeared above water to hear his words.   

Fr. Kroeger was born in Germany January 25, 1854, and immigrated to the United States in 1871. He studied for the priesthood in Cincinati and was ordained in 1880. He served in Goshen, Ligonier and Lagro prior to Tipton. 

Fr. Kroeger served as the second pastor of St. John the Baptist in Tipton beginning June 5, 1890, succeeding Fr. Francis Lentz. During his time in Tipton, Fr. Kroeger oversaw the completion of the St. John’s church in 1898 and stained-glass windows in 1903 prior to St. John’s redecoration in 1904.  

One of the most popular ministers of the diocese, he was at the forefront of community and public undertakings. Fr. Kroeger served in Tipton for 17 years before being assigned to St. Joseph’s in Logansport.  

While Fr. Lentz invited the Sisters of St. Joseph’ to Tipton in 1888, Fr. Kroger oversaw the completion of an 1891 convent in town for the Sisters as well as the establishment of the St. Joseph Academy north of town and the location of the current St. Joseph Retreat & Conference Center.  

In 1900 the Sisters of St. Joseph, with the help of Father Anthony Kroeger, purchased a 200-acre farm north of Tipton. Originally, the St. Joseph Academy was to be built facing SR 19. But on August 6, 1902, 80 acres was purchased from Mr. and Mrs. Carson and groundwork began immediately to build the Academy there. A sawmill was moved into the woods and workers felled the large oak trees and sawed them into the desired materials. The lumbers was hauled into the Fraulich Lumber Mills in Tipton to be seasoned and dressed. In the spring, the lumber was hauled back to the building site and one evening in 1903, Fr. Kroeger, Sister Magdalene, Sister Baptista and Architect Mr. De Curtady drove the four stakes to mark the site for the Academy. The St. Joseph Academy was formally opened in September 1904 and blessed November 15, 1904. 

Fr. Kroeger served as a spiritual advisor to the St. Joseph Academy for more than 30 years. He died of pneumonia at age 67 on May 25, 1921, in Logansport. He is buried in the Sisters of St. Joseph cemetery on our campus in Tipton. 

To see the St. Joseph Chapel door stained glass images along with a picture of the person who inspired the image, follow this link https://www.stjosephretreat.org/chapel-doors