A beautiful history portrayed in a beautiful book also serves as a tribute to a longtime staff member of the Catholic Diocese of Bismarck who died while being a lead organizer on the centennial publication.

"Perseverance in Faith: A History of the Catholic Church in Western North Dakota," is the result of a process that began about five years ago, said Joyce McDowall, director of the diocese's Office of Family Ministry.

Marge Grosz, was editor of the diocese's "Dakota Catholic Action" newspaper since 1992, saw a history book from another diocese that was produced by the French publishing firm "Editions du Signe."

"It is the only company that works with this type of history book," McDowall said of the French firm that had the diocese centennial book published in China.

Grosz contacted the company and then put it in contact with the various parishes to discuss the project. "She had started doing the writing and pulling together of material," McDowall said of Grosz's efforts.

The new centennial book results from a combination of new information with two diocese books that were published for its 50th and 75th anniversaries, she said.

Unfortunately, Grosz had a major heart attack where she had to be revived, and then required about three months of recuperation before she could return to work, McDowall said.

Fortunately, free-lance writer Margaret Sitte was working with Grosz on the centennial book.

"Most of the editing was done by Margaret Sitte. The visionary work was done by Marge," McDowall said.

Grosz did see proofs of the finished product, but died on the day the first box of books were delivered.

"I think it is a beautiful history. It is a beautiful coffee table book," said McDowall. "When you hear about how the first bishops traveled western North Dakota by horse and buggy, it's just kind of fascinating."

The book retraces the diocese's history starting from 1735 to present day. The opening sections of the book feature the bishops who served the diocese.

Maps indicating the location of present and past parishes within the diocese lead into the section that provides histories of the existing parishes. The diocese's mission in Kenya is then referenced, before the book recognizes parishes that have closed.

It is amazing the amount of time it took to grow the churches in the western part of the state when you think of the little there was to work with in the early days, McDowall added. This also is the time that sisters from various orders came to the region to start schools while also offering medical services.

"All of the communities in western North Dakota, the schools and the health care facilities helped to grow our communities, which came from the nuns," McDowall said. "Our churches had a great deal to do with how the communities grew."

The Rev. Dennis Schafer of Williston's St. Joseph's Catholic Church thinks the centennial book turned out very well.

"I was particularly impressed with how each of the bishops were featured," he said. "I also think the history section is outstanding."

Many of the parishes within the diocese also have celebrated centennials, Schafer added, which made compiling their histories somewhat challenging.

"What do you highlight as the most important things are hard," he said. "As I skim through some of the parishes I'm more familiar with, they have captured what the parishes are all about. It is more of a snapshot of what each one is like."

The section on the parishes also features a current photograph of each church, "which gives people a sense of where we have come," Schafer said.

Schafer is excited about the centennial book, which his parish has available to purchase.

"It's one of the things that each parish has a chance to get their hands on as far as the centennial," he said. "Sometimes we feel far away, but we are included too."

McDowall said the centennial book joins a couple of other publications that have been produced specifically for the 100-year anniversary. Msgr. Gerald Walsh came out with a book in August that gives a history of the priests and bishops, she said. There also is a centennial cookbook that has been created with submissions from all of the parishes in the dioceses, McDowall said.

"Each one of them has been a real work of love and work," she said.