Celebrating The Witness Of A Life Well-lived

Family members, friends, professional colleagues, and brother priests and Benedictine monks filled Our Lady of Einsiedeln Church at St. Meinrad Archabbey for the June 18 Memorial Mass for Benedictine Father Damian Schmelz, who died peacefully on June 12 at the age of 84.

Many in attendance knew Father Schmelz as their pastor. He served the Diocese of Evansville for 14 years as Pastor of St. Henry Parish in St. Henry. Others knew him as a wonderful teacher; others as a compassionate, caring scientist who loved all of God’s Creation.

“We gather to celebrate the witness of a life well-lived,” said St. Meinrad Archabbot Benedictine Father Kurt Stasiak in opening the Mass. Later, he quickly put Father Schmelz’s gifts into perspective during the opening moments of his homily. “More than anyone I have ever known,” he said, “Father Damian’s head was stuffed with science. And his heart was cheerful and caring.”

He told those in attendance that one of Father Schmelz’s favorite Bible passages was the story of Creation. “For Father Damian, this was the perfect intersection of prayer and work.” Father Stasiak added that Father Schmelz spent his life enjoying Creation, mastering it and caring for it.

He recalled Father Schmelz’s wry sense of humor, and noted that he was mostly a quiet man. “But when he did speak,” Father Stasiak said, “his words were careful, wise and right.”

Father Schmelz’s love of Creation led him to earn advanced degrees – including a doctorate – in plant ecology from Purdue University, and he taught biology at St. Meinrad University for several years.

He was known for his research on Indiana old-growth forests, and he 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, and 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.

“Father Damian’s self-donation (of his body for research) to the Indiana University Medical School represents a time of tearing down that becomes a time of rebuilding,” Father Stasiak said. “Because in tearing down what he has donated, a new generation will build up the knowledge and skills they need to help others.”