The early history of the Catholic religious life in Bronson goes back to Fr. Charles Rychaert, (1858-1866) who came to Bronson to offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in the homes of the few Catholic families that had come to this part of the country, mostly from Poland and Ireland.
Fr. Rychaert, the pioneer Priest, said Mass at least once a month, usually at the residence of James Cunningham.
In 1867, Fr. Cornelius Korst became the resident pastor at St. Charles in Coldwater and took over the Bronson Mission.  He immediately bought a house from Michael Coleman.  The pioneers with their pastor remodeled the home into a small mission church and named it in honor of the Assumption of the Blessed Mother.
Within ten years this church was too small so in 1876 Fr. Korst bought two lots on the corner of Matteson and Fillmore Streets and built a frame church to accommodate the growing population.
In 1884, a resident pastor was appointed, Fr. Francis Kroll.  A rectory was built near the church.  On January 5th, 1885 the wooden frame church burned to the ground.  A new brick church was built with a seating capacity of 300 persons.  It was completed in 1886 at the cost of $5,000.
In 1901 a four-room school and parish hall was built and served until 1956.  The Dominican Sisters were in charge until 1903 when the Felician sisters took over.
In 1910 the Sisters home was built.  Fr. William Maruszczyk enlarged the small rectory into a suitable priest’s residence, which served this purpose until 1956, and served as the residence for the Sisters from 1956-1958.
In 1954, Fr. Stan Nowakowski, was appointed pastor of St. Mary’s.  He purchased 13 acres, located on the West edge of the City of Bronson, from Frank & Elizabeth Yesh and Frank & Helen Kubasiak.  The new project of the parish came to $450,000.
The breaking of the ground for the new church took place on September 25, 1955 and blessing of the cornerstones on March 4, 1956.  Dedication of the new Church and School took place on November 4, 1956.  The Most Rev. Joseph H Albers blessed the new buildings.
Ground breaking for the new convent took place March 17, 1958 and the Sisters moved into the new convent on October 4, 1958.  Since then, the convent has been sold.
The house that was on the new property of the parish was remodeled and served as the pastor’s home until 1961.  Work on our new rectory began July 11, 1960 and it was occupied on February 14, 1961.
On May 7, 1965, ground was broken for four additional classrooms and a gym for our school.  The cost of this addition was $252,630.
The parishioners invested over $900,000 in property, buildings, equipment and improvements in the new parish through February 1966.
Since that time our parishioners have donated for improvements in our parish which consists of painting inside the church, resurfacing the parking lot, new floors in kitchen and gym, new roofs, repair-stained glass windows and new boilers for church and school.
Presently, 94 children attend Preschool through Eighth Grade at St. Mary’s Assumption School.  Parish enrollment consists of 304 families with the Rev. Daniel Hyman serving as St. Mary’s pastor appointed in 2018 by the Most Rev. Paul J Bradley, Bishop of Kalamazoo Diocese.  GOD IS GOOD!