In 1903, Frederick George Holweck, German-American scholar and church historian, returned as pastor to St. Francis De Sales, where he had earlier served as curate. The original church and a new church building by Engelbert Seibertz, still under construction, were both destroyed by the great St. Louis Tornado of 1896. Holweck was charged with building a new church to meet the needs of the growing parish. The building was completed in 1908.
