The Globe-Gazette, Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Mason City Centennial Issue
Monday, June 01, 1953, Section 7, Page 26

[Mason City's] population increase brought other churches. On Jan. 5, 1905, the First Presbyterian congregation was organized and the first services held at the courthouse.

In 1908, the Rev. LeRoy C. Cooley Jr. of Rowley took over the pastorate, after which the construction of the church at 9th and Washington N. W. got under way. The cornerstone was laid Aug. 2, 1908, and on Dec. 20 of that year the first services were held in the new building. The congregation then had a membership of 70.

At the annual meeting on April 4, 1913, the congregation became self-supporting with a membership of 142. In 1915 the church established the East Side Presbyterian Church, another effort to reach the new additions in the city. This church at 1056 Maple Drive, is now [1953] the First Convenant Church.

[Section 8, Page 14] The First Presbyterian Church at 9th and Washington N. W., was built in 1908. The congregation has now acquired a building site in Willowbrook and expects to proceed soon with the construction of a new church. The First Presbyterian church was organized here in 1905 [under the guidance of the Rev. Crozier] and held its first services in the courthouse.

In 1913 the congregation became self-supporting with a membership of 142. Since then it has undergone substantial increase in membership. The pastor is Rev. Wilbur F. Dierking.

NOTE: Rev. John Crozier came to Mason City from Oxford, Ohio. There was a Rev. Wilbur Dierking listed as the interim pastor of The Presbyterian Church of Fairbanks, Alaska, serving from late 1958 to early 1959.

Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, December of 2014

First Presbyterian Church celebrated its 100th Anniversary in 2005.

Francis Robert "Bob" WHITE was born in Oskaloosa, Iowa, April 19, 1907. As a child, Bob had an intense interest in art. At the age of 17 years, he went to Europe where he spent two years studying art. In 1926, Bob first saw Chartres Cathedral in France which inspired him to study every major European glass work he could find.

He returned to the United States, studied at the Philadelphia Academy of Arts, then was hired as an apprentice for Wilkes-Barre Art Glass Company in Philadelphia. Here he learned the basics of glazing and handling glass.

While living in New York, the Whitney Studio Gallery (later known as the Whitney Museum of American Art) commissioned an abstract window from Bob for their collection. This led to a Guggenheim fellowship which allowed Bob to return to Europe and studey medieval glass techniques. Upon his return to the America, the country was in the height of the Great Depression. He was asked by artist Grant WOOD to design stained glass windows in Iowa but with no available funding, this project fell by the wayside.

During World War II, Bob served as a naval officer in the Pacific. After the war, he earned a M.A. at the Guadalajara University in Mexico.

Bob worked with the First Presbyterian Church of Mason City for 27 years, completing his first work for the church in September of 1973.

Bob passed away on May 23, 1986, Mason City.

His work is featured in several area buildings, and six panels are located in the Tom MacNIDER home. Other works are located at the Greek Orthodox Church of Transfiguration, the First Congregational United Church of Christ in the WILLSON Chapel, and at the MacNIDER Art Museum.

Submission by Sharon R. Becker, February of 2011

Globe Gazette
Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, Iowa
Saturday, April 06, 1940, Page 3

  The Rev. R. w. Peyton of the First Presbyterian church in Mason City will have charge of the devotional programs over KGLO next week, heard Monday through Friday from 2 to 2:15 p.m. His daily subjects will be: Monday - "Love," Tuesday - "Peace," Wednesday - "Goodness," Thursday - "Meekness," and Friday - "Self Control." Soloists on the program will be Mrs. Harlan McMillan, Mrs. A. C. Hagerman and Wilma Walters.

  Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, May of 2014