Rev. Joseph Chester Schwab, OMI

Rev. Joseph Chester Schwab, OMI, 87, died August 13, 2014, at 03:25 AM, after a period of declining health. He was born on September 18, 1926, in Sheldon, New York, a son of the late Albert and Catherine (Bartz) Schwab and one of three children. In addition to his parents, he was predeceased by a brother, Paul.
Fr. Schwab attended high school in East Aurora, New York. He attended Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, and Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He also attended the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, where he earned a masters degree and a PhD in psychology.
He entered the Tewksbury, Massachusetts, novitiate of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate on September 7, 1946. There he professed his first vows on September 8, 1946. His perpetual vows were professed in Essex, New York, on September 8, 1950. He was ordained to the priesthood on June 1, 1953, by the late Bishop Arsene Turquetil, OMI.
Fr. Schwab was a teacher from 1953 to 1971, first at Bishop Fallon High School in Buffalo, New York, then at Our Lady of Hope College in Newburgh, New York. He spent the next four years in Washington, DC, where he continued his studies at Oblate College. In 1975, he was assigned to St. Stephen's Parish in Miramar, Florida, where he was the pastor until 1981. His next assignment sent him to Millington, Tennessee, where he was the pastor of St. William's Parish. From 1985 to 1990 he was President of Oblate College, Washington, DC. In 1990, he was assigned to St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Madison, Florida, and St. Margaret Parish in Monticello, Florida, as pastor. In 2000, became full time chaplain at Jefferson Correctional Institution in Monticello.
In addition to his Oblate family, he is survived by his sister, Mary Schwab, of Prescott, Arizona, and a nephew, Greg Schwab, of Houston, Texas.