Msgr. Carl Schmitt

Fr. Carl was raised on a farm in the St. Lucas area.  He was the fifth of eleven children born to Joseph and Anna (Blong) Schmitt.  As a youth, he was involved in farming, family, education and carpentry. 

A graduate of St. Luke’s High School in St. Lucas and Loras College in Dubuque, Fr. Carl also studied theology, scripture, and philosophy at Mt. St. Bernard Seminary in Dubuque.  After completing seminary studies, he went on to attain a M.A. in history from Notre Dame University and an M.A. in secondary administration from the University of Northern Iowa. 

Fr. Carl was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Dubuque March 18, 1961.   He taught several years at Don Bosco High School in Gilbertville, where he also served as associate pastor at Immaculate Conception. 

Catholic Education has always been near and dear to his heart.   From 1966 to 1970, Fr. Carl was the coordinator of the Dubuque Catholic Schools while also assuming duties as associate pastor of Holy Ghost.  For twenty years, he was the Coordinator of the Dubuque Metropolitan System of Catholic Education.   During those same twenty years, he also had the privilege of serving God’s people in other assignments.  Some of his many duities included Assistant Chaplain of Mercy Hospital in Dubuque, and as Pastor at St. John ( Placid) in Epworth, St. John in Peosta, Annunciation in Lattnerville, and Holy Ghost in Dubuque. 

At the Archdiocesan level, he served as Legislative Coordinator and as Administrator of the Archdiocesan Lay Teacher Insurance program.  He was involved in telecommunications, and was instrumental in helping schools and parishes move into the computer age.  

Over the years, Fr. Carl has been actively involved in numerous Archdiocesan activities including the Compensation Commission, the Stewardship Commission, the Priest Council, the Building Commission, the Priest Fund, the Priest Retirement Fund, and as a consultant to the Archbishop. 

In 1991, Fr. Carl returned to his roots when he came to New Hampton, only a few miles from St. Lucas.    Since that time, he saw many changes -first as Pastor of St. Joseph, then accepting responsibility for both Catholic Churches in New Hampton,  St. Joseph and St. Mary of the Visitation.   He helped to ease the transition when the two parishes merged to become Holy Family. Fr. Carl served as Pastor for the Good Shepherd Catholic Cluster in 2005 when  St. Boniface in Ionia and Immaculate Conception in North Washington were added to his pastoral responsibilities.   Although Fr. Carl had a full schedule as pastor of three parishes, serving nearly 1200 families, with a Catholic elementary school and a High School of Religion, he found time for an occasional game of golf and to work in his rose gardens.  

After serving the New Hampton area for 19 years, Fr. Carl retired in 2010.