1931 – 2013 (July 22)
Joseph Cletus Schnaubelt was born on May 30, 1931, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the son of Joseph A. Schnaubelt and Margaret McIntire. He was baptized on June 14, 1931 at Mount Carmel Church, Altoona, and attended Saint Mary Parish School there, and Altoona Catholic High School. In 1948 he transferred to Augustinian Academy, Staten Island, New York, as a postulant for his fourth year of high school. He was received into the Order as a novice on September 9, 1949, and after a year at Good Counsel Novitiate, New Hamburg, N.Y., he professed first vows on September 10, 1950. He then attended Villanova University, professed solemn vows on September 10, 1953, and received a BA in Philosophy in 1954. He then went to Augustinian College, Washington, DC, for theological studies, and was ordained to the priesthood on June 8, 1957, at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, by Bishop John McNamara. He received an MA in Classics from the Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, in 1960.
Father Schnaubelt was assigned to Saint Joseph Friary and Msgr. Bonner High School, Drexel Hill, PA, where he taught, from 1958 to 1960. He was then assigned as associate pastor at Saint Rita of Cascia Parish, Philadelphia. From 1963 to 1965 and from 1967 to 1970, he was assigned to Saint John of Sahagun Friary and to Archbishop Carroll High School, Washington, DC, where he taught and was also guidance director. From 1965 to 1967, he taught at Augustinian Academy, Staten Island.
In 1970, Father Schnaubelt was assigned to Augustinian College, to pursue graduate studies at the Catholic University of America. In 1973, he was assigned to Saint Thomas Monastery and was appointed to teach and to work in the Augustinian Historical Institute at Villanova University. In 1995, because of failing health he retired from both teaching and working at the Institute.
Father Schnaubelt pursued a life of simplicity and kindness, fulfilling whatever duties were assigned to him. He endured his physical ailments without complaint, as he suffered the effects of Parkinsons Disease in latter years.
He was admitted to Bryn Mawr Hospital where he died on Monday, July 22, 2013. Father’s funeral Mass was celebrated on July 25, 2013, in Saint Thomas of Villanova Church on the University campus. He is buried at the Augustinian Plot at Calvary Cemetery, Conshohocken, PA.
