Waco Tribune Herald"Hope Hoelscher held a handful of charred pages from a church hymnal Monday as she watched firefighters put out hot spots where a 125-year-old community landmark burned that morning.
Crews from several volunteer fire departments responded to the Church of the Visitation, 144 County Road 3000 in Falls County, shortly before 8 a.m. when smoke was seen coming from the building’s south tower.
“I just grabbed whatever I could salvage,” Hoelscher, 19, said. “Westphalia is a tiny, tiny town, and you can see, or could see, the church towers from our pasture. Now, they are gone.”
Bishop Joe S. Vásquez and Father James Misko of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Austin traveled to Westphalia, about 35 miles south of Waco, and saw the destruction along with parishioners.
“My heart was broken the moment I heard about it,” Vásquez said. “I had spoken to Father Edwin Kagoo, the pastor here, and he told me what was happening. By the time he reached me, there was very little left and I immediately knew I had to come out here and be with the people.”
Falls County Precinct 3 Constable and volunteer firefighter Jerry Loden said strong wind fueled the fire that quickly spread through the wooden structure.
“I got married here. I go here every week. This is home,” Loden said. “The Church of the Visitation has been here, in fact, we were going to celebrate in 2020 in May the 125th anniversary of the church building, and of course over those years there have been thousands and thousands of people who have come through those doors.’’
The church building, designed in the shape of a Latin cross, has two bell towers, one on each side of its center area. The towers were each covered with copper sheeting and topped with a 9-foot stainless steel cross, according to the church website.
All of Westphalia, an unincorporated community, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996 as the Westphalia Rural Historic District, according to a post on the Texas State Historical Association website.
“The Church of the Visitation was completed in 1895 on 100 acres of land high on a hill, and its picturesque twin towers can be seen for miles,” the website states.
Lifelong parishioner Marvin Meyer, 61, was one of about 15 nearby residents who ran into the burning church in an effort to salvage what they could.
“We got some stuff out, but it wasn’t near enough,” Meyer said. “We just saw the smoke and everyone came. Everyone just tried to do what you could to save what you could, but it went so fast. In like 15 minutes it was over.”
The wooden church currently serves 244 families. Catherine Halfmann, 31, was married in the Church of Visitation in February 2011, with her engagement photos taken at the church.
“I live outside of Rosebud, but when I heard about it, all I thought was absolute devastation,” Halfmann said. “There were immediate tears, sadness, because my husband’s entire family goes to church out here, was married out here, baptisms out here.
“There were so many families out here that we know that makes this hard for this community. This entire community was built around this church.”
In speaking with grieving church goers, Vásquez and Misko reminded members about the true meaning of the church. He said the community’s strength and the strength of the church rest in its parishioners.
“The church is the people,” Misko said. “The church building is the building in which people worship God.
“These are strong people who are close to each other, they care about each other, and although the building is destroyed, the memories are not erased. I know they will rebuild.”
The State Fire Marshal was called to investigate the fire. No injuries were reported, authorities said."