The following information was provided by a member of the Santa Maria Council, No. 2619 in St. Louis, during a phone interview on August 3rd, 2000:

Msgr. Fred Sprenke was a member of the Knights of Columbus, and chaplain of the Santa Maria council in South St. Louis, from 1945 until he passed away in 1971. Msgr. Sprenke first became interested in the Knights back in the '40s when he heard about the Knights' efforts in raising money for the Catholic Advertising Fund, now called the Religious Information Bureau.

In 1948, he was named the first archdiocesean pastor of St. Ann Church in Normandy, and served as pastor until he died. Even while serving as pastor at St. Ann, he made the trek down to South St. Louis (in those days before large highways) to make the meetings at the Santa Maria Council and to minister to sick members and to families of deceased knights.

Msgr. Sprenke was described by a current member of the Santa Maria council as a learned man and someone who loved the Knights of Columbus. Back in 1946, the Msgr. had $2500 (a large sum of money back then) saved up to buy a new car. This was a period in time when new cars just started becoming available again for sale to the general public due to the war, so he was excited about getting it. It was also at this time that his council was looking to purchase a building for their meetings. Msgr. Sprenke decided not to buy the car and instead loaned the $2500 to his council to purchase the building.

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