Father Richard Speltz arrived as pastor of Crucifixion Parish in La Crescent, MInnesota in April 1946.  He had just completed a stint as a United States Army Chaplain before being assigned to the Church of the Crucifixion.  He began a series of ambitious projects, beginning with the construction of a new Church of the Holy Cross in Dakota, Minnesota.  In addition to the mission church of Holy Cross, Father Speltz was also pastor of the mission church in La Moille, Minnesota.  Father Speltz' immediate predecessor as pastor of Crucifixion, Fr. Fritz, began raising funds for a new parochial school at Crucifixion Church, and Father Speltz carried this project to completion, with the construction of a one-story four room parochial school.  Work on the construction of the school began in 1947; a cornerstone was laid 24 April 1949, and the school was dedicated and blessed on 6 November 1949.  Father Speltz later added a second story to the school, in 1955, and later an auditorium was added on the west side of the school in 1958.  Father Speltz also completed the construction of a new convent building in 1956.  In 1963, construction of the third Church of the Crucifixion was completed, and the new church was dedicated on 12 May 1963 with a mass concelebrated by the Most Reverend Edward A. FItzgerald, Bishop of Winona, and the Most Reverend George H. Speltz, Auxiliary Bishop of Winona. 

Father Speltz led Crucifixion Parish on a number of ambitious construction projects, particularly the construction of the school.  Here he is shown cutting stone to be used for the construction of the school outer walls. 

Father Speltz and parishioners worked side-by-side in the construction of Crucifixion School.  Most of what we think of today as the buildings of Crucifixion Parish owe their existence not only to his leadership, but in a large part to his own labor. 

Here, Father Speltz is shown taking a coffee break while on the construction site of the new school.  Pictured left to right are:  Herman Nintemann, Ralph Senn, Ed Senn (partially hidden), Charles Kerrigan, Henry Abnet Jr. (partially hidden), Ed Belongie, Charles Senn, Lawrence Eden, Henry Buehler, Charles "Judge" Gittens, Father Speltz, William Lathrop, unidentified man, Burl Kellogg, Joe Hafner, Bernard Witt, Ray Jennings, Charles Boma, and Willard Walter.