Submitted by: Dan Rich

Rev. George E. Schidel CSC

Oct. 5, 1912 - June 9, 2002

South Bend Tribune 6/12/2002

Reverend George E. Schidel, C.S.C., 89, died at Holy Cross House, Notre Dame, Ind., around 11 p.m. on Sunday, June 9, 2002. Father Schidel was born on Oct. 5, 1912, in Girard, Ohio, the son of George W. and Mary Agnes (McNulty) Schidel. He attended St. Rose Elementary School in Girard, and Girard High School from which he graduated in 1929.

He entered the University of Notre Dame in 1930 as a regular student in the college of commerce, and went to St. Joseph novitiate at Notre Dame after his sophomore year in 1932. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1935, and continued his theological education at Holy Cross College in Washington, D.C. His theological studies were interrupted for two years allowing him to recover from tuberculosis. In August 1952 he received an M.A. in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame.

Father Schidel made his first profession of vows on July 2, 1933, and his perpetual profession on July 2, 1937. He was ordained to the priesthood at Sacred Heart Church, Notre Dame, on June 15, 1941, by the Most Reverend John Francis Noll, Bishop of Fort Wayne.

The first 26 years of his priesthood, Father Schidel worked in houses of formation, mostly at the novitiate. He was confessor and teacher at St. Joseph Novitiate in Rolling Prairie, Ind., from 1941-46 and chaplain from 1946-48. He then moved to the newly established Sacred Heart Novitiate in South Bend, Ind., from 1948-50. He became the first director of Andre House, South Bend, a postulate program for the Coadjutor Brothers of the Indiana Province on the campus of the University of Notre Dame from 1950-52. He then began the longest continuous stint as confessor and teacher at Sacred Heart Novitiate in Jordan, Minn., from 1952-66, the total duration of the novitiate program in Jordan. For one year he served on the local council at St. Joseph Hall, Notre Dame, before beginning a period of pastoral service.

Father Schidel served as associate pastor at St. Patrick Parish, South Bend, from 1967-75, and then became resident chaplain at St. Joseph Home in Watertown, Wis., where he served until 1984 when the Holy Cross Community announced its impending withdrawal from St. Bernard's parish. For five years he served as an elder sage at Moreau Seminary, assisting at the Downtown Chapel in South Bend, St. Mary's Parish in Three Oaks, Mich., and teaching at the Forever Learning Institute. He then moved to Holy Cross House where he served as director of pastoral care from 1989-91. He continued to live at Holy Cross House until the time of his death on Sunday.

Father Schidel is revered by many generations of Holy Cross religious as a quiet, pious and holy man. He taught many seminarians Latin, liturgy and Scripture in the novitiate, introducing many to the intricacies of the grammar and vocabulary of the Latin Fathers of the Church. He served many as confessor and spiritual director during the novitiate year. He enjoyed a reputation as a baseball player, a researcher of some aspects of the history of the province, and was a student and friend of Father Michael Mathis, C.S.C., a noted early liturgical pioneer of the Church. An avid fisherman, he spent weeks every summer at Land O'Lakes, sometimes catching a "big one," but always anticipating the opportunity to "feed the hungry." He had a wry sense of humor which showed itself most frequently at the card table. He was a good and holy soul.

Father Schidel is survived by one sister, Mrs. Teresa O'Connell of Youngstown, Ohio; and by nieces and nephews, Margaret McLaughlin, George O'Connell, Timothy O'Connell, Maureen Goldfinch, Mary Burton, Thomas O'Connell, John Giering, Robert Schidel, James Schidel, Anita Pawlak and William Schidel. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Mrs. Edith Schidel of Santa Monica, Calif. He was preceded in death by his parents; one brother, John Schidel; and by two sisters, Mary Elizabeth and Emma.

A wake service will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 13, in the Chapel of Moreau Seminary, Notre Dame. Visitation will take place from 3:30 p.m. until he time of the wake service.

The funeral Mass of the Resurrection will be celebrated at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, June 14, in the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, Notre Dame. Burial will follow at the Community Cemetery, Notre Dame. The Kaniewski Funeral Homes is in charge of the arrangements.