RIP Fr. Joseph Schabel - Priest dies on Christmas Day at age 89 after serving for more than 60 years

An advocate for the poor, Father Joseph Schabel’s Funeral  will be Celebrated Saturday, December 28

DECEMBER 26, 2019
Diocese of Saginaw
Father Joseph Allen Schabel, 89, a senior priest of the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw, died on Christmas day, December 25, 2019. Father Schabel served as a priest for more than 60 years, during which time he worked tirelessly as an advocate for peace and justice. He will be remembered for his passion to serve the poor, his kind and compassionate heart and his love for all.

Father Schabel was born on February 20, 1930 in Munger, Michigan, to the late Frank and Ann (Lynch) Schabel. He received his elementary education at Powell School and also St. Norbert Catholic School. He received his secondary education at St. Joseph High School in Grand Rapids. Father Schabel continued priestly formation at Sacred Heart Seminary in Detroit where he graduated with a degree in philosophy and at St. John’s Provincial Seminary where he graduated with a degree in theology. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 2, 1956 by Bishop Stephen Woznicki at the Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption in Saginaw.

Father Schabel served as assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Saginaw; Our Lady of Lake Huron, Harbor Beach; and Our Lady of the Visitation, Bay City. He served as co-pastor at Sacred Heart, Saginaw, and St. Rita, Saginaw. He served as pastor at St. Felix, Pinnebog; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Saginaw; St. Michael, Maple Grove; St. Roch, Caseville; St. Philip Neri, Coleman and St. Anne, Edenville; and St. Casimir, Saginaw. He became a senior priest of the Diocese of Saginaw in July 1995.

Father Schabel’s civic involvement includes helping to found the Saginaw Child Development Center, the Perfect Place Women’s Shelter, the Children’s Christmas Store, the Mexican American Council and the Benito Juarez Academy.

His Funeral Liturgy will be celebrated at 11 a.m. on Saturday, December 28 at St. Joseph Parish, 910 N. 6th Ave., in Saginaw. Bishop Robert Gruss will preside and Father Harry Sikorski will be the homilist.

Visitation will take place on Friday, December 27, from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. at St. Joseph Parish. A Vigil for the Deceased, led by Father George Serour, will take place at 7 p.m. that evening, Visitation also will take place on Saturday, December 28, for an hour prior to the Funeral Mass.

Interment will be in the priest section at St. Patrick Cemetery in Bay City at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 28.
Source: Full Text Release from the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan, USA