November 21, 2022 – Waukesha/Washington Co., Wi – Reverend Pat Heppe, formerly with Holy Angels Parish in West Bend, will be among the dignitaries leading Monday’s remembrance ceremony honoring the victims and families from the 2021 Waukesha Christmas Parade tragedy.
Rev. Heppe was marching in the parade as part of four parishes in Waukesha; he was injured during the event and hospitalized after suffering a concussion.
“My injuries were minor, but there is still pain and suffering here in Waukesha,” he said.
Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to FREE local news at
Washington County Insider on YouTube
“It’s not over. We talked about that today at our staff meeting. We got people that are still in pain and going through some difficult times,” said Heppe.
The one-year anniversary of the tragedy is Monday, November 21. Heppe said he will be part of a remembrance at Cutler Park which will also include the Governor, mayor, fire chief and police chief. The ceremony begins at 4:39 p.m.; the same time the attack occurred.
“They’re going to sing the song ‘Stand by Me’ and that’s really what kind of defines what we’ve been working on; standing by each other,” said Heppe.
The sentencing of Darrell Brooks Jr. in Waukesha County Court took more than three hours Wednesday afternoon. Brooks was found guilty on all counts of killing six people and injuring dozens more when he plowed his SUV into the Waukesha Christmas Parade on November 21, 2021
For the most part, Heppe said, he’s put a “lot of it behind” him.
“But the whole trial has really brought out the pain and suffering of a lot of people in Waukesha,” said Heppe. “A lot of people have really come forward again and are articulating the pain. You know, people have been traumatized and you can’t just discard trauma overnight.”
Heppe said the concussion he suffered was very minor compared to what people affected by the tragedy are experiencing. “Just walking with people at times like this is just painful,” he said.
Heppe was reassigned by the Archdiocese in 2019, moving from Holy Angels Parish to the Catholic Community of Waukesha; that area includes parishes St. John Neumann, St. William, St. Mary and St. Joseph; Catholic Memorial High School and the Waukesha Catholic School System.
