A War Veteran Deacon Who Left His Comfort Zone and Learned to Love

                How  some people interact with each other    

             taught me how to love people...I feel gifted or

    'Holy' enough to serve others."  Deacon Paul Schmidt

       Deacons share in Christ's 'mission and grace in a special way.

The sacrament of Holy Orders marks them with an imprint

       of "character") which cannot be removed, and which configures

         them to Christ, who made himself the "deacon" or servant of all. 

   

(Catechism of the Catholic Church 1570)

Reported by  Robert R. Schwarz  

                 

                                Paul Schmidt asked his mother one day about the woman living next door.     

                       "There was something about her I found very attractive, other 

                       than her good looks, " Paul recalled.  "She was a soft, gentle, 

                     kind caring person and willing to listen to this adventuresome 

                  ex-Marine.  Could she be a gift from God?   I asked myself. " 

             [ Deacon Paul Schmidt died on September 21, 2022, in Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, Illinois, nine days prior to the posting of this report. He had suffered off- and on-illnesses since wounded by Agent Orange in the Viet Nam war while serving as a sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps . Details of his funeral ,as well as a dramatic account of his conversion to the Christian faith,  appear at the end of this report. The interview which now follows was originally posted on  Exodus Trekkers  on Dec. 29, 2018 . ]

            On the office wall of Deacon Paul  Schmidt  hangs  a sketch  of a beached and battered empty rowboat . Paul looks at the boat  now and then to remind himself  of  those simple  fishermen who  were called by Jesus to be His disciples and who then  immediately left  their  "comfort zone" of their life of fishing to follow Him.

            "This empty boat reminded me  years ago to get out of my comfort zone and  do something for people, " said the 71-year-old man Catholic during our recent interview, 

            Though still on the mend today after some serious surgery, this deacon at the St. James Catholic Church in Arlington Heights, Illinois , continues to baptize babies, counsel couples about to marry, and comforts people at funeral wakes—as well as working full time as  business manager for another parish. In that other office,  Paul today wore  a red and blue plaid shirt and light brown pants; he wears glasses, has hazel eyes, and  stands five-foot-nine.  He talked candidly about his life. 

            We started with that  childhood memory of his father , a  memory  wound which he said   took  years to heal.  In his remarks at a  St. James  marriage encounter  at which he and his wife Paulette participated 22 years ago, Paul told the group: "  My family was Catholic , but we grew up in a volatile environment, never knowing when my father would express one of his alcoholic rages . We were always on edge. My mother , a soft-spoken Irish lady, always tried to keep peace in the house. It was nearly an impossible task. "

            Viet Nam came  next , which he really didn't want to talk about it.  Paul fought as a platoon sergeant.  He was hit once in a fire fight  by an enemy bullet  which tore off a piece of the flak jacket he was wearing. Of the  all the  Marines in Paul's  infantry company, he  and a platoon lieutenant were the only two who returned alive. 

     

Sergeant Schmidt in Viet Nam 

    Somewhere between high school and Viet Nam , Paul lost touch with God despite his Catholic schooling  and altar boy experience.   I attended Mass in basic  [Marine Corps ] ] training ,  but once stationed at my regular unit, Mass and God were not part of my regular life. God was now on the sidelines. " 

   As Paul was about to find out, God had no intention of remaining on any sidelines .A Marine named  John began asking Paul to attend  Catholic Mass with him. Paul repeatedly declined the  invitations.  When Paul  returned stateside, he was  totally confused,  He  said he didn't speak of this experience with John for 20 years. [ The denouement of this event is unraveled by Paul's wife at her husband's funeral, described at the end of this interview. ]  

              

***

After the war. Paul enrolled in a community college  to study retail marketing;  he would have no thoughts of becoming a deacon for at least 30 years.

Now living at home in Birmingham, Michigan, Paul one day told his mother that he wanted to know more about the girl living next door.   " There was something about her I had found very attractive, other than her good looks , " Paul recalled.  " She was a soft, gentle , kind caring person  and willing to listen to this adventuresome ex-Marine.  Could she be a gift from God?   I asked myself.  "

Now Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt , 1967

In September , 1967 Paul and Paulette  were married .  Two children were born:  David , now 43, and Jennifer,  44. There are three grandsons .  Paul and Paulette will tell you—as they have others have at marriage encounters they led --that their own marriage went through tough challenges  , yet  always  for the  greater good for those who love God,  as Holy Scripture says.  They'll add that they had to work out those inescapable  hang-ups  formed  in all childhoods ,  some caused by well-meaning but imperfect parents, some by the common flaws of  human nature.

Perhaps the  toughest challenge  came a year ago when Paul underwent a 16-hour kidney and liver transplant surgery.  The initial  medical problem was that the    portal  veins leading to his liver  were blocked ; but matters worsened , according to Paul,  when a dye injected into Paul, to see if his heart could withstand both a liver and a kidney transplant,  unexpectedly caused his kidneys to shut down .  For Paulette ( whom this reporter   often saw praying hard for her husband  in a St. James pew ) ,  her challenge  was  the stress of  being a caregiver 24-7  during  the   long, often painful recovery of her husband.  "Throughout all of this, " Paul said,  " she  was a real trooper."

One of Paul's challenges was living through his many semi-conscious  days  immediately after  the surgery . Three teams of surgeons worked over Paul and inserted  84 staples across his abdomen ; six stints had been implanted during the last 18 years to keep his heart pumping. " I couldn't  pray . I couldn't concentrate , " he said. Was he frightened about dying ?  "No. I was actually looking forward  to it. "  He estimates the operation and post-operative care cost the insurance company  at least  $ 1.2 million.

Becoming a Deacon 

Becoming a deacon  was a four-year journey for both  Paul and  Paulette.  The early  1990's after the couple had  participated in a marriage encounter weekend, " Wonderful things can come from being able to  express your feelings in a safe environment," Paul said.  " We were  open for other possibilities that God had in store for us as a couple. "   Fr. Bill Zavaski, a retired pastor of St. James, asked Paul to consider studying  for the diaconate.   Paul replied that he did not "feel gifted or 'holy' enough to serve others."  But a year later  , when asked again by Fr. Zavaski , Paul and Paulette  prayed about it  and  said yes .

That "comfort zone boat " the deacon left 

In the second year of Paul's diaconate, he and Paulette entered a 10-week internship at St. Francis Hospital in Evanston, Illinois.  But during the third year, he began to feel that he really didn't have the required gifts to be a good deacon. " I realized I was more task-oriented than people-oriented,"  he said.  When he shared this at a retreat for deacon candidates ,  a woman  classmate  promptly disagreed with him.  She told him that she had observed that he had a very important gift to be a good deacon: He was a good listener.   Then she told Paulette that her gifts were " hospitality" and "thoughtfulness. " 

 Paul still had doubts.  He excused himself from the group and took a long  walk alone.  " Out of nowhere came Bill, my classmate , to join me in the walk, "  Paul recalled. After listening to Paul's doubts, Bill  suggested that Paul simply trust in God's will for him and let Him reveal what He wanted Paul to do. And God apparently  did.

When  Paul  stepped up to the St. James altar for the first time as a deacon,  he knew that he possessed other  skills besides that of  listening well to people.  As a project manager for various  businesses , he had developed  , he said, "pretty good instincts for business …and the ability to bring a project to completion and on budget. "  He was also able  to visualize the projects he embarked on . 

In his Deerfield church office as business manager

While giving me a tour of that  church  in Deerfield which then  employed him , he referred to it as "my greatest achievement," He took taking particular pride in his role of raising funds for church's major addition and bringing  construction costs under budget by thousands of dollars .  He talked endearingly  about the church,  but his life  goals, he said firmly, "are centered on Christ. "

In a moment of candor,  Paul's shared that his work in the St. James and  Holy Cross parishes  "has taught me how to love people. "  He admitted that at one time he  "didn't care what people thought of him as long as he got the job done. " But during the Holy Cross project, he said he saw firsthand how people interacted and took care of each other , and this, he said ,  "taught me how to  love  people. "   Paul wanted his  tombstone epitaph to read : He loved people.   

            " The injustices of the world," he said, make him sad .  " Like when I see, for example , the way people treat other people in stores. "  God has made happy , he said ,  by all the signs and happenings in his daily life that tell him God is always with him and doing so much for him. He's reading the popular inspirational book, To Heaven and Back, by Dr. Mary C.  Neal , who , when she was  helplessly drowning , surrendered peacefully to certain death with the words "Thy will be done. "

With Paulette in their Arlington Heights home 

Our interview shifted to his home, a cozy dwelling  whose walls are adorned with several water colors of barns and other pastoral scenes done by two  regional artists.  On Dec. 13, 2013 , the living room was filled with the cheerful conversation of  St. James' three priests and five of its deacons and wives who were celebrating  the one-year anniversary of  Paul's  recovery.  "It was a very meaningful  gathering ," Paulette said. "We had so many things in common  with  the many friends who have helped us through this ordeal,  like visiting Paul in  the hospital and driving us here and there."  Their son David, a professional  chef, prepared beef tenderloin.  

The Funeral of Deacon Paul Schmidt

"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, 

I have kept the faith." (2 Timothy 4:7)

    On Friday,  Sept. 30. 2022, six priests and two deacon friends of Paul Schmidt conducted a funeral mass attended by more than 100 friends  paying tribute to Paul for his 21 years as an ordained deacon. He was  described as a "truly beloved family member "of St. James Catholic Church in Arlington Heights. Said one deacon , " He brought people closer to God "; another said ," Paul left his footprints in our hearts." One of the closing hymns was Bridge Over Troubled Waters , sung by the church music director. 

After the service, everyone moved outside to the parking lot  for military honors and a salute by two uniformed Marines, followed by the playing of Taps and firing of rifles by several American Legion members. The Amercain flag was taken off Paul's casket folded by the two marines and presented  to Pauls' wife, Paulette. 

comments welcomed 

rrschwarz777@gmail.com

 © 2018, 2022, 2023  Robert R. Schwarz 

THE END

Next Sunday: Feb. 18

The Amazing Trek of a Love-Giving Missionary 

Raised as a Muslim in Lebanon and Later Martyred 

There as a  Christian Pastor ( part one of two parts )