Milwaukee Journal Sentinel July 22, 2001

Schmidt, Rev. Ralph G. Jr., Texas City, TX, formerly of Belgium, Wisconsin. July 19, 2001, age 54 years. Beloved son of Ralph G. Schmidt Sr. and the late Joan Parker Schmidt, dear brother of Jane (Bob) Watry, John, Dan (Pauline) and Jeff (Debbie) Schmidt, also survived by 16 nieces and nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, other relatives and friends.

A Concelebrated Mass of Christian Burial will be held on Wednesday, July 25, 10:30 AM at St. Mary Catholic Church. Burial in the parish cemetery. In state at the Eernisse Funeral Home, Belgium, Tuesday from 4-8 PM and at the church Wednesday after 9 AM. Parish vigil Tuesday eve. at 7:30 PM. Memorials to St. Dominic Diocesan Center, Houston, TX, St. Mary's Parish, Texas City, TX or charity of choice appreciated. EERNISSE FUNERAL HOME 171 N. Royal Ave.-Hwy. LL and Park St. Belgium 262-285-4141.
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Pastor Ralph Schmidt, 54, led Catholic church

KEVIN MORAN, Houston Chronicle | July 25, 2001

TEXAS CITY -- The Rev. Ralph Schmidt Jr., pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Texas City since 1992, has died. He was 54.

Schmidt was returning to Texas City from a family reunion in Belgium, Wis., when he collapsed and died Thursday at a rest stop on Interstate 55 in southern Missouri. The cause was a heart attack, said officials with the Catholic Diocese of Galveston-Houston.

Schmidt had shown no signs of illness before he left for Wisconsin, said Kelly Castillo, his secretary.

"He was happy," she said. "He was going home."

Born May 3, 1947, in Port Washington, Wis., Schmidt was one of six children of Ralph G. Schmidt and Joan F. Parker Schmidt. He was ordained as a priest in the Galveston-Houston diocese on June 3, 1973.

Schmidt served as assistant pastor at churches in Hitchcock, Houston and Galveston before being named the founding pastor of Epiphany of the Lord Catholic Church in Katy in 1981. He was appointed as pastor at St. Jude Thaddeus Church in Highlands in 1985 and St. James the Apostle Church in Houston in 1988.

In 1998 he was elected dean of the Galveston Mainland Deanery, serving as liaison between the bishop and the priests in the southern part of the diocese.