Monsignor G.E. Schmidt remembered as leader who 'called the best out of people'

Monsignor George Edward Schmidt Jr. was a priest at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church and a longtime University of Tennessee fan.
Monsignor George Edward Schmidt Jr. was a priest at Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church and a longtime University of Tennessee fan.

After a funeral that drew more than 500 people to celebrate the life of Monsignor George Edward Schmidt Jr., the Rev. Bertin Glennon and Deacon Hicks Armor sat at Sts. Peter and Paul Basilica on Wednesday to explain why the retired pastor was so well loved.

"As far as the type of person he was, he seemed formal but he was very informal," Glennon said. "I mean, he worked hard to look formal. He always wore a suit. But he knew names. He knew people's lives."

Schmidt died Dec. 29 at age 72. He grew up in the parish, graduated from Notre Dame High School in 1962 and left for seminary in Covington, Ky. He returned to the parish in 1970, where he was ordained a priest. He left and returned again in 1986 when he was selected as church pastor. He served as pastor until he retired in 2013 after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and Lewy body disease.

Glennon, a fellow priest who lived at the parish with Schmidt for more than 20 years, noted that bishops came from as far as Knoxville and Nashville to attend the funeral service. The audience Wednesday also included about 40 or 50 of his brother priests, Armor said.

Pope Benedict XVI gave Schmidt the title Monsignor in 2011 in recognition of his years of service as a priest and as a pastor. It means a job well done, said Armor, pointing to framed papers on the wall at the church office.

Sts. Peter and Paul was named a basilica in 2011 under Schmidt's leadership. It's the only basilica in Tennessee.

"A lot of it was due to his organizational ability," Glennon said. "When I came here it [the church] had a leaking roof and everything, but he fixed it up and repainted it."

Schmidt started raising funds for the restoration in 1986. It was completed in 1991.

"He was a leader without ever being forceful," Glennon said. "He called the best out of people."

Armor said Schmidt's example of service inspired him to become a deacon.

"I felt called to serve because I saw how he served and how people responded to it, and I wanted to give of myself in the same way," he said.

After retiring from Sts. Peter and Paul, Schmidt lived at St. Jude Catholic Church.

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