Br. Pius Grintjes (1845-1913)

Brother Pius Grintjes passed away September 17, 1913.

John Grintjes was born in Holland, came to the United States at age 22, and worked a while at St. Francis Seminary, Milwaukee, Wisc.  He came to St. Benedict’s in 1882 and made perpetual vows Sept. 8, 1886.  He died in his sleep after ailing for some time. 

Brother Pius was fabled to be able to do the work of two men.  Students recalled working with him putting up hay and harvesting grapes.  He and Brother Andrew Allermann worked mightily to fill a long and eroded ditch that ran north to south through the present college dining room and soccer field area.  Father Claude Enslein wrote in the December 1952 Raven Review, “Brothers Andrew and Pius built a six foot culvert through the ravine (a deposit of earth caught by overflow dams) When it was completed 20,000 cubic yards of earth were hauled down to Dutch Hollow, east of St. Joseph’s Hall, and the Culebra Cut was born.  (The project was named Culebra Cut after a particularly difficult excavation attempted during the building of the Panama Canal.)  The six-foot tunnel served as a smoking parlor.  But woe to the lad who was caught by the ever watchful eye of the prefect.”  The area above the “Cut” was leveled later and, alas, the “Cut” was gone.