A memorial Mass for Father Elmer J. Schmidt will take place Sunday, Feb. 25, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Ann Church in Hornell. A free brunch with Father Schmidt’s family members will follow at the Knights of Columbus hall, 251 Main St.
“It is the strong wish of the family, and especially of Father Schmidt, that we as a parish family come together with his family to celebrate his life and the gift he was to this community,” Father Patrick Van Durme, pastor of Our Lady of the Valley Parish, wrote in the Feb. 3-4 parish bulletin.
To RSVP for the brunch, call 607/324-5811 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Father Schmidt, 76, died Jan. 24 at McAuley Residence in Rochester. He was pastor of St. Ann from 1983 until his 1995 retirement due to Parkinson’s disease. His other Southern Tier assignments were as pastor of St. Margaret Mary in Apalachin, 1974-83; and assistant pastor of St. Vincent de Paul in Corning, 1967-74.
Father Van Durme noted that many area parishioners took advantage of the bus that was supplied by Father Schmidt’s family for traveling to his Jan. 30 funeral Mass at St. Margaret Mary Church in Irondequoit, a suburb of Rochester.
“It was a great consolation and blessing to the whole family that so many took the time and effort to honor their loved one,” Father Van Durme wrote.
All correspondence related to Father Schmidt, including Mass cards and letters, may be sent to his niece, Margaret Burns, 288 Chapel Hill Drive, Irondequoit, NY 14617.
