Father Ernie Eulogy
Father Ernie passed away on October 1, 2001, at eighty-seven. His funeral Mass was held on October 4th at St. Francis Xavier Church, Raywick, Kentucky following visitation and viewing at St. Cecilia’s in Louisville. He was laid to rest in the cemetery of St. Joseph’s Church, St. Joseph, Kentucky.
Those of use who were lucky enough to have known this man as our teacher an friend, knew him to an exemplary priest and a true friend. The Church of St. Francis Xavier which I would estimate was designed to accommodate about four to five hundred, was filled to overflowing on the the day of his funeral Mass. Priests and laymen from across the country came to pay their final respects to this good, down-to-earth man. Bishop Maloney, although weakened by age, and infirmity himself, was there to do likewise. Father John Lesousky, C.R. was the principle celebrant and delivered the eulogy himself. The funeral cortege from Raywick to St. Joe’s was a good two miles long! If you find time to drop by St. Joe’s, to visit his grave, you will find it just a few yards straight through the main entrance, just to the rear of the church.
The congregation of St. Joe’s opened the parish hall and fed the throng who had come from far and wide. A gesture of love and respect for the man who had served them so unselfishly from 1963 to 1974, and again from 1982 until it was ordered closed in 1996.
As so many of St. Mary’s “boys” were not able to present for Fr. Ernie’s funeral, we offer this account to fill the void, and to make available the moving, thought provoking eulogy written and delivered by Father John Lesousky, C.R.
Pat Finneran ’58
Indianapolis
Funeral Homily for Father Ernie Schumacher, C.R.
St. Francis Xavier Church, Raywick, Kentucky
October 4, 2021
By Father John Lesousky, C.R.
First, let me say that it is a great privelege and honor for me to be asked to celebrate Father Ernie’s Funeral mass and say a few words. He has been an inspiration to me ever since I was a small boy.
A few years ago, I asked Father Ernie when did he first know that he wanted to be a priest. Without hesitation he answered, “Ever since I can remember.” Then he told me that when he was in grade school at St. Cecilia’s Parish in Louisville, one day he found his pastor Father Alex Reitzel, hoeing in his garden. He went over to him and completely out of the blue he said, “Father, I want to be a priest.” That simple, direct, uncomplicated sentence, “I want to be a priest.” became the driving force and focal point of his entire life. I think can safely say that afterward there was never a day when Father Ernie didn’t want to be a priest.
So, in the fall of 1929, he entered the seminary at St. Mary’s College. After high school he went to the Novitiate of the Congregation of the Resurrection in Canada in 1933 and he professed this First Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience as a Resurrectionist in August of 1934. He took his college and theology studies at St. Peter’s Seminary in London, Ontario, Canada where he was ordained a priest on June 7, 1941. His “I was to be a priest.”, of 1929 was realized in 1941. But that was only the beginning for Father Ernie.
His first assignment was to St. Mary’s College where he remained on the faculty for thirty-two years until 1974. During this time, to better himself aas a teacher, he obtained a Master of Science degree from St. Louis University with special studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. During his thirty-two years at St. Mary’s he taught countless hundreds of student the beauty and the wonder and the mystery of God’s physical creation. But what is far, far more important than his physics, chemistry, or biology classes, he taught by word and example what it meant to be a priest. In his simple, direct, uncomplicated way he was a sterling example of what the priesthood is all about.
His initial, “I want to be a priest.”, was lived out so genuinely and truly each day. Father Ernie put on no airs, no false faces. He had no hidden agendas. What you saw was what you got with Father Ernie, and that’s why people loved him so much. His “I want to be a priest.” came through loud and clear to everyone.
While he was still teaching a full load of classes of St. Mary’s, in 1963 he was appointed the Pastor of St. Joseph’s Parish nearby and was Pastor there until 1974. He developed a great, mutual love affair with the people of St. Joe’s that remains very strong to this day.
In 1974, Father Ernie, transferred to his home Parish of St. Cecilia’s in Louisville as Pastor where he remained until 1982. His reputation of going out of his way to help the poor and suffering, the sick and dying, spread from St. Joe’s to St. Cecilia’s where the poor came to him from far and wide to seek not only material help but his understanding and feeling. Material possessions meant absolutely nothing to Father Ernie. He always felt that whatever he might have at a given time belonged to the next needy person who came to him. And he did not wait until the poor came to him. He often went to them, picked up the elderly and those without transportation to buy groceries and other necessities, and many times he drove the sick to doctors and hospitals. And he checked on them regularly and brought them the consolation and the grace of the Sacraments. Loving your neighbor yourself was very much a necessary part of “I want to be a priest.”, for Father Ernie. Today’s gospel reading fits him perfectly.
In 1982 he returned to his beloved St. Joe’s Parish as resident pastor until it closed in 1996. The people’s love and respect for Father Ernie grew even greater during those fourteen years. He was a Pastor of St. Joe’s for a total of twenty-five years. In 1996 he became the Sacramental moderator of this Parish of St. Francis Xavier here in Raywick. An lo and behold, to no one’s surprise, Father Ernie and the people of this parish developed a love affair which endured to this day.
Last year, when a second hip operation slowed him down, he came to our Resurrectionist Retirement Home in Louisville. Even though Father Ernie was 86 years old at that time, he was still driven by his “I was to be a priest.”, spoken so many years ago. So, he sought out and volunteered to become a Chaplain to the St. Martin de Pores lay Dominican Community near New Hope. He ministered to them until very recently when he became too ill and weak to even do that. Then he said Mass at his desk in his room until he had to go to the hospital and nursing home for better care. Even there he asked for his Mass kit. It was only hours before he died when he celebrated his last Mass from his bed, assisted by his long-time friend, Al Barth. Father Ernie wanted to be a priest until the very end.
Father Ernie was beloved everywhere he ministered. His kind and gentle priestly presence and ministry touched countless people during his more than sixty years of priesthood. I’m sure that at about 2:00 in the morning last Monday, Father Ernie heard the words of the Lord in today’s gospel: “Well done good and faithful servant. Come, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
Thank you Father Ernie, for the example your life has been for all of us. May God grant you the everlasting peace and happiness you so richly deserve.