Obituary of Father Joseph A. Schumacher

Father Joseph Arthur Schumacher, 86, a lifelong priest for the Diocese of Fort Worth, died on All Saints Day, Thursday, Nov. 1, 2018.Born in Independence, Kan., on March 19, 1932, Joseph Arthur Schumacher was the “unspoiled” middle child of three children of Arthur Vincent and Margaret Templeton Schumacher. His family moved to Fort Worth when he was in third grade, and he attended St. Ignatius Academy, located next to what is now St. Patrick Cathedral, through the eighth grade.After completing Catholic college prep school in Amarillo, Fr. Joe attended college and seminary at Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. He paid for his seminary education by working on the farm and in the oil fields. He earned a doctorate degree in sacred theology at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome in 1967.Ordained to the priesthood on May 25, 1957 for the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth, Fr. Joe served as an assistant pastor for several Dallas parishes. He was appointed chancellor and secretary to Bishop Thomas Gorman of the Diocese of Dallas-Fort Worth from 1961 to 1967.Assigned as pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Denton in 1969, he transitioned to the Diocese of Fort Worth when the dioceses divided later that year. He continued to serve at Immaculate Conception until 1980 and provided campus ministry at the state colleges in Denton.In 1980, Fr. Joe became pastor of St. Michael Parish in Bedford for 13 years. He also was pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Arlington from 1994 to 2006.Concurrent with his responsibilities as pastor, he was named vicar general for the Diocese of Fort Worth in 1981 by Bishop Joseph Delaney. He remained at that post for 24 years under Bishop Delaney and one additional year under Bishop Kevin Vann.After more than 60 years as a priest, Fr. Joe retired in 2006, having served as pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Arlington, St. Michael Parish in Bedford, and Immaculate Conception Parish in Denton, among others.Fr. Joe was preceded in death by his brother, Robert Joseph Schumacher and sister-in-law, Edith, and a nephew, Stephen Andrew Gladbach.He is survived by his sister, Margaret C. Schumacher Gladbach, and her husband, Jack and many loved nephews and nieces, whose lives he was involved in.