About Crooked Lake Chapel · Crivitz, Wisconsin
Crooked Lake Chapel is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel that serves vacationers and year-round residents along Crooked Lake in the Northwoods of Marinette County, Wisconsin. It is operated as a mission station of St. Mary's of the Lake Parish in Lakewood, within the Diocese of Green Bay, sharing one pastor, parish staff, and pastoral councils. A single early Sunday Mass at 7:00 a.m. is offered each week, making the chapel a convenient spiritual stop for summer visitors before the day begins and a quiet place of worship for the lakeside community throughout the year.
- Patron
- Mary, Mother of God
- Rector
- Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar Pamisetti (Parish Administrator since September 2022)
- Diocese
- Diocese of Green Bay
Why belong here
Crooked Lake Chapel offers what few Northwoods lakes can: an intimate, community-sized Catholic Mass right on the water, with a 7:00 a.m. Sunday schedule that fits the rhythm of cabin life, fishing mornings, and family weekends. Because it is a mission of St. Mary's of the Lake Parish in Lakewood, visitors and locals receive the full sacramental life of the larger parish — including Reconciliation on First Fridays, a Holy Hour, Religious Education for grades 7–12, an active St. Mary's Social Concerns ministry (homebound visits, transportation, hospitality Sundays, bereavement cards), Christian Women activities like May Crowning, and seasonal novenas. It's a welcoming place where summer residents, retirees, and parish families all know each other by name.
Mass times at Crooked Lake Chapel
Weekly Mass schedule
Confession times
- First Friday, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (at St. Mary's of the Lake, Lakewood)
Adoration times
- Holy Hour, First Friday, 9:00 AM – 10:00 AM (at St. Mary's of the Lake, Lakewood)
About Crooked Lake Chapel
Crooked Lake Chapel is a small Roman Catholic mission chapel located at 15478 Whispering Pines Lane on Crooked Lake in the Lakewood/Crivitz area of northeastern Wisconsin. It is operated as a mission station of St. Mary's of the Lake Parish in Lakewood and falls within the Diocese of Green Bay. The chapel serves both permanent lakeside residents and the many summer visitors who vacation along Crooked Lake each year, offering a single early Sunday Mass that fits the rhythm of a Northwoods morning.
- Type: Mission chapel / mission station of St. Mary's of the Lake Parish, Lakewood
- Diocese: Diocese of Green Bay
- Address: 15478 Whispering Pines Lane, Crooked Lake, WI 54149
- Phone (shared parish office): 715-276-7364
Parish Patron and Marian Devotion
The parish's patron is Mary, Mother of God, celebrated on the Solemnity of Mary on January 1. Marian devotion shapes the rhythm of the year at St. Mary's of the Lake and Crooked Lake Chapel: the Christian Women lead a Corporate Communion and May Crowning procession, an annual Novena to Mary is prayed every Tuesday and Thursday during May, and a Rosary for the sick is recited every Wednesday before Mass, with a Friday Rosary for Peace.
- Parish Patron: Mary, Mother of God
- Feast Day: January 1 (Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God)
- May Crowning procession at both Lakewood and Crooked Lake, first Sunday of May
- Novena to Mary, Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout May
- Weekly Rosary: Wednesdays (for the sick) and Fridays (for Peace)
Parish History and Priests of the Lakes
Crooked Lake Chapel has long functioned as a small lakeside mission within the larger Catholic life of the Lakewood area, served by priests with deep personal ties to the Northwoods. A March 2018 pastoral note from the parish records the death of Fr. Leo Lessard (ordained 1960 for the Diocese of Green Bay), who retired around 2000 to his home on Bear Lake in Lakewood and continued concelebrating daily Mass and helping out sacramentally at both Lakewood and Crooked Lake until dementia limited him in his final years. The parish also keeps retired senior priest Fr. Leonard Evers in its prayers; he now resides at Unity Hospice in De Pere. Their witness helped shape the mission-chapel character of Crooked Lake as a place where faith accompanies cabin life, fishing, and family summers.
- Fr. Leo Lessard — ordained 1960, retired to Bear Lake ~2000, d. March 1, 2018
- Fr. Leonard Evers — retired senior priest; now at Unity Hospice, De Pere
- Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar Pamisetti — Parish Administrator since September 2022
St. Mary's Social Concerns Ministries
The parish's umbrella Social Concerns ministry coordinates outreach to the homebound, the bereaved, and neighbors in practical need. It organizes Hospitality Sundays, transportation for medical and shopping trips, Communion visits to the sick, and a monthly Bingo afternoon at Lakewood Assisted Living. These ministries serve the entire parish family, including the Crooked Lake community.
- Ministry of the Homebound & Sick (Communion visits, Bingo at Assisted Living)
- Ministry of Local Needs (rides to medical appointments and errands)
- Ministry of Hospitality (coffee and donuts after Mass, first Sunday of the month)
- Ministry of Compassion & Bereavement (cards and care notes for the recently bereaved)
- Ministry of Prayer (Rosary for the sick and for Peace)
Religious Education and Youth
Religious Education for grades 7 through 12 is held on Wednesday evenings from 6:00 to 7:30 PM at St. Mary's of the Lake in Lakewood. The parish notes that, due to low enrollment in the younger grades, K–6 in-class Religious Education has been paused in recent years. The bulletin regularly appeals for additional volunteers for youth ministry and for liturgical ministries at both Mass locations.
- Grades 7–12 Religious Education: Wednesdays, 6:00–7:30 PM at St. Mary's, Lakewood
- K–6 in-class RE: currently paused due to low enrollment
- Ongoing call for youth ministry volunteers
Liturgical Ministries and Music
The parish actively recruits liturgical ministers — Altar Servers, Lectors, Communion Ministers, Ushers, Commentators, and Choir members — for both the Saturday Vigil and Sunday Masses at Lakewood, as well as for the 7:00 AM Sunday Mass at Crooked Lake Chapel. Contacts in the bulletin for liturgical involvement include Gwen Craanen (Scheduler), Sally Landwehr (Trainer), and Lois Fischer (Choir).
- Altar Servers
- Lectors
- Communion Ministers
- Ushers and Commentators
- Parish Choir
- Contacts: Gwen Craanen (Scheduling), Sally Landwehr (Training), Lois Fischer (Choir)
Outreach: Food Pantry and Thrift Store
The parish supports a local Christian Food Pantry with published hours on Wednesdays (8:30–10:00 AM and 5:30–7:00 PM) and collects brown-bag donations for the Christian Thrift Store, with tote bins placed under the table in the gathering space. Recent bulletin appeals have included prayer and financial support for parishioners facing serious medical needs, reflecting the small, family-style network of care that defines the community.
- Christian Food Pantry: Wednesdays 8:30–10:00 AM and 5:30–7:00 PM
- Brown-bag donations for the Christian Thrift Store
- Parish prayer and financial appeals for parishioners in medical need
Contact and Visit
Crooked Lake Chapel shares its clergy, staff, and council structure with St. Mary's of the Lake Parish in Lakewood, so the most reliable way to reach the chapel for sacraments, scheduling, or general inquiries is through the parish office. The shared parish phone number, email, and website are listed below.
- Phone: 715-276-7364
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: https://stmarys-lakewood.org/
- Facebook: StmarysofLakesparish-WI
- Mother-church mailing: 15232 County F, Lakewood, WI 54138
Pastors & rectors through the years
- Fr. Leo Lessardretired in residence, d. 2018
Ordained 1960 for the Diocese of Green Bay; retired to Bear Lake, Lakewood ~2000; concelebrated daily Mass and helped out sacramentally at Crooked Lake and St. Mary's of the Lake until dementia limited him.
- Rev. Fr. Praveen Kumar PamisettiSeptember 2022–present
Priest from India; serves as Parish Administrator of St. Mary's of the Lake and its mission, Crooked Lake Chapel.