Tok - Holy Rosary Catholic Church
Tok is located at milepost 1314.2 along the Alcan Highway, 206 miles south of Fairbanks.
In September 1949, thirteen years before northern Alaska became the Diocese of Fairbanks, Fr. John Buchanan arrived in Tok. The Tok mission was entrusted to him by Bishop Francis Gleeson, S.J., vicar Apostolic at the time for all of Alaska. Fr. Buchanan was given the task to build chapels and bring priestly ministry to Tok and areas in between, a first for the region. Tok served as his home base and from that point, the energetic Buchanan reached out to "old Catholics" and converted new ones in places like "ten Alaska Road Commission camps, two army camps and in numerous small Native and white settlements along the highway." This tireless priest celebrated the first Mass at Tok in 1949 at the old Tok Road Commission Building.
While living in his truck, Fr. Buchanan "built his Tok cabin, a crude 8x10 structure for the winter of 1949-1950 out of materials he begged and salvaged" from any available source he could find. As Sr.Frances McCarron, I.B.V.M., says in The Alaskan Shepherd Magazine issue about Fr. Buchanan and the foundation of the new Tok church, "the locals got accustomed to his audacity and creativity when it came to raising money. Despite great obstacles such as lack of materials and money, he remained undaunted while building buildings and planting seeds of faith."
In July 1950 Fr. Buchanan began to build the 20x40 foot log chapel, the original part of Tok's Holy Rosary Church. The Midnight Mass of 1950 was the first liturgy celebrated at Holy Rosary church. The first baptism took place on February 14, 1951 and was administered to "an eight year old girl whose mother had helped peel the logs of Tok's new Catholic chapel."
From the time Fr. Buchanan left Tok in 1954, it has never had a resident priest. Many community volunteers however, have kept the Christian spirit alive for years after his departure. Among these are David Schutt, an ordained deacon. Beginning in 1986, Mr. Schutt served as part-time Pastoral Administrator conducting communion services and Sharing the Good News. He also trained the first parish Eucharist Minister, Ms. Christine Grangaard. In 1991 Deacon Schuft supervised the construction of a log addition to the chapel which now serves as the church proper.
Sister Linda Hogan, C.S.J., arrived in Tok in 1995 to serve as full-time Pastoral Administrator. She first lived in the church, but later rented an apartment. During the three years she was there, plans were laid to build an addition to the log church with living quarters for a resident pastor or pastoral administrator. Sister Frances McCarron arrived as Pastoral Administrator in July, 1998 just a month before the foundation for the new addition was dug. She moved into the new residence in September a year later. It had been completed with almost all donated labor, a generous grant from the Extension Society plus monies from the local community, and with the help of, then seminarian, Ward Walker. On October 7, 1999, Bishop Michael Kaniecki, S.J., and the Catholic community of Holy Rosary, celebrated the completion of the new structure as well as their Golden Jubilee...50 years of Catholic presence in Tok.
Fr. Don Balquin served the Tok Catholic community out of Delta for several years but had to resign in 1999 because of a life threatening illness. Retired priest, Fr. Tim Sander, O.S.B., served the Tok community almost twice a month during the time they were without a visiting priest from Delta.