Guardian Angels had its beginnings in 1857, when the first Mass was
said in the area by Fr. George Keller, pastor of Assumption, St. Paul.
From 1857 to 1870, services were celebrated by visiting Franciscan and
Benedictine priests. Established as a parish in 1870, a wooden “clapboard”
church was built. The parish was officially incorporated February 27, 1885,
as Guardian Angels of Oakdale, a new brick church built and later blessed by
Bishop Grace on All Saint’s Day. Growing with the community, a new brick
and mortar church and parish center were completed in 1964.
During the 1980s, the Oakdale area experienced another tremendous
growth, and the community outgrew the 1964 church. In 1990, construction
began on a new worship and gathering space incorporating the 1964
structure, with the large social area called Peter O’Neill Hall, to the new
worship space. The first Mass in the present church was celebrated on
Christmas Eve 1991. The historic 1885 brick church was
restored in 1997 and continues to host daily Mass, smallscale funerals and weddings.
Guardian Angels also has an historic cemetery, dating back to 1869.