Meet a mischief of mice that is not nibbling away at the foundation of an old building. Rather, these mice have made a contribution for more than six decades by raising the funds needed for the maintenance of a 150-year-old Episcopal cathedral in the upper Midwest.
Since 1962, volunteers known as Cathedral Mice have produced a different handmade mouse each year. At $20 a mouse, the sales add up. At about 2,500 mice a year, the profits have covered the hefty maintenance costs and capital campaigns for St. Paul’s Cathedral in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
“For more than 60 years, they have been producing Cathedral Mice,” said Bishop W. Michie Klusmeyer, retired Bishop of West Virginia and interim dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral. “It started as a ministry of people from within the cathedral but is now filled with people from around the community.”
The Mouse Factory—home of the Cathedral Mice—is located in the former dean’s residence on the grounds of the cathedral, offering a secure place for supplies and a work area.
The operations of Cathedral Mice require a 12-month commitment in order to produce all the critters. “They literally spend a year making and sewing little mice that are then sold in December,” Klusmeyer said. “Each year, there is a different themed mouse.”
The newest mouse is The Queen. She joined Tannenbaum, Gingerbread Man, Bird Watcher, Lumberjack, Fannie Flapper, Dr. Squeak, Cancer Survivor, Lil’ Drummer Boy, fairy tale favorites, many Wizard of Oz characters, Angel, Patriot, and others representing various sports teams and occupations. The first were Choir Gray and Choir White.
In 2026, Klusmeyer said, Frosty the Snow Mouse will join the entourage.
The cathedral was founded in 1848; the current building was built in 1866 and completed in 1868. Like many aging church buildings, the cathedral requires lots of maintenance. “The price is $1 million for the roof, and we have furnaces, we have cracking plaster—it is an older building and is in continuing need,” Klusmeyer said. “Over the 60-plus years, they have raised $2.5 million selling little mice.”
The cathedral is still tallying the 2025 profits.
Cathedral Mice boasts humble beginnings, thanks to cathedral member Dorothy Duket, who created a mouse and sold it for only $1.
“When they started in the 1960s, it was a church project,” Klusmeyer said. “They had someone cut the ears, and someone make the noses. It was a church ministry.”
Over the years, manufacturing has been refined, streamlined, and expanded, but January is still the kickoff for the next Christmas mice.
It usually takes between seven to 17 hours, and about 16 felt pieces, to make one mouse, depending on the theme. For example, Klusmeyer cited the George Washington Mouse, which took 17 hours to make each one.
Today, between 2,600 and 2,800 per year are created in an assembly line: some make uniforms, others make faces, while there is a large group focusing on sewing.
He cited the dedication of the congregation and the Mouse Factory leadership, not only in the production of the Cathedral Mice but also for supporting the efforts year after year.
Klusmeyer pointed to two mousers who continue the commitment. For Claire Hutter and Katie Soles, members of the current leadership of the Mouse Factory, this is a ministry of more than 45 years and they remain dedicated. They both declined to name a favorite mouse, “since each have a different look and an attitude.”
Volunteers are the backbone of the operation. “Over the years the community has stepped up,” Klusmeyer said. “Hundreds of people around Fond Du Lac participate.” While he’s out in the community, the bishop often fields questions on how to become a mouser.
To kick off the 2025 season, Klusmeyer offered a blessing of The Queen. “They brought out boxes of mice, I blessed the mice, and I blessed the mousers.”
From there, another year of Cathedral Mice escaped the cathedral and headed for people’s homes.
Klusmeyer said that some individuals have a complete set, but it is unknown how many possess a full collection of all the Cathedral Mice since 1962.
Neva Rae Fox is a communications professional with extensive Episcopal experience, serving the boards of The Living Church Foundation, Bible and Common Prayer Book Society, Episcopal Community Services of New Jersey, and others.
