Benedictine Father Damien Schmelz Dies At 84

Benedictine Father Damian Schmelz, monk and priest of Saint Meinrad Archabbey and former pastor of St. Henry Parish in St. Henry, died on June 12 in the monastery infirmary. He was 84 and a jubilarian of both profession and ordination.
Born on  May 7, 1932, in Georgetown, Ind., to Aloysius William and Grace (Miller) Schmelz, Father Schmelz was given the name Vincent Eugene at his baptism. After completing his elementary education at St. Mary School in Lanesville, Ind., he entered the Minor Seminary at Saint Meinrad in 1950, and he entered the novitiate two years later. He professed his simple vows on July 31, 1953, and he was ordained to the priesthood on May 3, 1958.
He served as pastor of St. Henry Parish from 2001 until he retired in 2015 for health reasons.
Father Schmelz earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Saint Meinrad College and a baccalaureate in sacred theology from Saint Meinrad School of Theology and The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He began teaching biology at Saint Meinrad High School Seminary immediately after his ordination.
During summers, he pursued graduate studies at Purdue University, earning a master’s degree in plant ecology in 1964 and a doctorate in that field in 1969. He taught biology at Saint Meinrad College until its closing in 1998.
Father Schmelz also served as assistant dean of students for four years, as academic dean for 18 and as provost and vice-rector for five years. He also served as the manager of The UnStable, the campus pub, for more than 25 years.
He also was well known in the Indiana Academy of Science. He was a member for 50 years, serving twice as chairman of the Academy’s Plant Taxonomy Section. Father Schmelz also served terms as the Academy’s treasurer and then president, was the Academy’s representative to the Indiana Natural Resources Commission and was the Academy’s Speaker of the Year in 1979-1980.
Father Schmelz was named a fellow of the Academy in 1973 and received its Outstanding Service Award in 2003. He was known for his research on Indiana old-growth forests, and chaired a blue-ribbon committee assigned to study controlled deer hunts in Brown County State Park. He and a colleague specialized in the area of Donaldson’s Woods; in 2000, an addition to the Donaldson’s Woods Nature Preserve was dedicated in his honor.
Father Schmelz served for 33 years on the Indiana Natural Resources Commission and co-authored “Natural Areas of Indiana” (1969), which served as a guide for the creation of Indiana’s Natural Preserves.
In 2007, he received a Lifetime Conservation Achievement Award from the Indiana Wildlife Federation. Two years later, he was a member of the inaugural class named to the Indiana Conservation Hall of Fame.
In 2015, Father Schmelz was named a Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honor bestowed by the Governor of Indiana.
His memberships in other professional organizations included Sigma XI, the Ecological Society of America, and the Indiana Natural Resources Commission.  
Father Schmelz is survived by a number of nieces and nephews.
The Office of the Dead will be prayed at 7 p.m. CT on June 17, in the Archabbey Church. A memorial Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. CT on June 18 in the Archabbey Church. Father Schmelz arranged for his body to be donated to the Indiana University School of Medicine. As a result, interment will occur at a later date.