Name: Schumacher, Louis Edward
Born: 01/24/1922
Where Born: New Albany, Indiana
Ordained: 05/27/1947
Where Ordained: St. Meinrad, Indiana
Served From-To: 1947-2001
Died: 03/30/2001
Where Died: Brookville, Indiana
Buried: . Michael Cemetery Priests Circle-Brookville, IN – April 4, 2001
Find-A-Grave Website
[The Criterion Friday, April 6, 2001 p. 2.]
Reverend Monsignor Louis Edward Schumacher
“Msgr. Louis Schumacher served 54 years By Mary Ann Wyand. In 1997, Msgr. Louis E. Schumacher told Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein that he wanted to ‘be a priest all my life in whatever way I can.’ Msgr. Schumacher continued to serve the Church in central and southern Indiana as a member of the archdiocesan presbyterate for 54 years – past his official retirement age – as administrator of St. Michael Parish in Brookville and Holy Guardian Angels Parish in Cedar Grove. He was the oldest diocesan priest in active ministry. ‘Without sounding tedious, my commitment to the priesthood was for life,’ he said, ‘and I have never looked for retirement as a time to say I’ve paid my dues and now I can have a life of my own. I have to admit I enjoy what I am doing.’ Msgr. Schumacher died in his sleep sometime during the night of March 29 after participating in a communal penance service at St. Michael Parish and enjoying dinner with other priests who assisted with the liturgy. He was 79. ‘I was shocked when I received word of Msgr. Schumacher’s death.’ Archbishop Buechlein said in a statement. ‘He will be greatly missed by all of us, especially the parishioners he loved so much and served for so long. To me, Msgr. Schumacher embodied what it meant to be a priest,’ the archbishop said. ‘In a letter he wrote to me several years ago, he said, ‘I just want to be a priest all my life in whatever way I can. So it doesn’t really matter whether I am a pastor or a retiree helping out where I can or, as many of our priests have been at the end, confined to a bed or wheelchair and still serving the Lord where they are. That is the concept of priesthood I carried from Saint Meinrad, and I don’t imagine it is unusual.’ Msgr. Schumacher was ‘a genuinely good man and a good pastor who followed the Lord that he knew so well as the Good Shepherd,’ Archbishop Buechlein said. ‘For this, Pope John Paul II honored him with the title of monsignor in 1997. It seems somehow fitting that Msgr. Schumacher, still pastoring two parishes several years past the normal retirement age for priests, died quietly in his sleep after leading an evening penance service at his parish,’ the Archbishop said. ‘We now have another person in heaven to pray with us and for us.’ Archbishop Buechlein was the principal celebrant for the funeral Mass on April 4 at St. Michael Church. Burial was in the parish cemetery. Msgr. Schumacher was born on Jan. 24, 1922. He was ordained a deacon at Saint Meinrad in 1946 by Archbishop Joseph Elmer Ritter, and was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Paul C. Schulte on May 27, 1947. His first assignment was as an assistant pastor at Holy Name Parish in Beech Grove. In 1951 , he was assigned to St. Anne Parish in New Castle, also as an assistant pastor. In 1955, he was named assistant pastor at St. Mary Parish in Greensburg. His first pastorate was at St. Peter Parish in Franklin County in 1962. In 1968, he was named pastor of St. Michael Parish in Brookville. In 1995, he assumed additional duties as administrator of Holy Guardian Angels Parish in Cedar Grove. In 1997, he was named a monsignor and was appointed administrator of both parishes, which he served for the remainder of his life.”
[Middle name for middle initial provided by findagrave contributor A. P. Reed #48008650.]
Inscription
“To Jesus Through Mary Rev. Louis E. Schumacher 1922-2001 Ordained May 27, 1947 Pastor St. Michael 1968-2001.”
