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Schmidt, Richard C. (Father)

October 10, 2014

Jesuit Father Richard C. Schmidt died on Oct. 10, 2014, at the age of 84, at the St. Claude la Colombiere Jesuit Community in Baltimore. He was a Jesuit for 66 years and priest for 53 years.

Schmidt, Richard C.

Jesuit Father Richard C. Schmidt died on Oct. 10, 2014, at the age of 84, at the St. Claude la Colombiere Jesuit Community in Baltimore. He was a Jesuit for 66 years and priest for 53 years.

Fr. Schmidt was the son of August J. Schmidt and Catherine B. Uphoff, born on Feb. 23, 1930, in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania. Following graduation from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Philadelphia, he entered the Society of Jesus on July 30, 1948 at the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, and there pronounced his first vows on July 31, 1950. He then pursued juniorate (college) studies in the humanities at Wernersville for two more years before being sent to study Philosophy from 1952 to 1955 at the College of St. Robert Bellarmine, Plattsburg, New York, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in speech in 1955.

As a Jesuit scholastic, Fr. Schmidt taught English and history at St. Joseph’s Preparatory School, Philadelphia, from 1955 to 1958 and was then sent to study theology (1958-1962) at Woodstock Colllege, Woodstock, Maryland, where he was ordained to the priesthood by the Most Reverend Francis P. Keough, Archbishop of Baltimore on June 18, 1961. Fr. Schmidt completed his Tertianship at Port Townsend, Washington in 1963 and made his final profession in the Society of Jesus at Georgetown Preparatory School, Rockville, Maryland, on December 8, 1979. Father Schmidt’s first priestly assignment took him to Loyola High School, Towson, Maryland where he was appointed Prefect of Discipline from 1963 to 1970. He was then sent to Georgetown Preparatory School, Rockville, Maryland. Here, he served as Prefect of Discipline (1970-1972), Custodian of Building and Grounds (1972-1996) and Minister of the Jesuit Community (1988-1997).

In 1997, Fr. Schmidt was assigned until 2012 to pastoral ministry at Loyola Retreat House, Faulkner, Maryland as Associate Director of Retreats (1997-1998), Associate Director for management and maintenance (1998-2002), and Assistant to the Director (2002-2012).

Due to age and failing health, in 2012 Father Schmidt was transferred St. Claude la Colombiere Jesuit Community, Baltimore, where he served as a pastoral minister until his death in 2014