Beloved Carol Stream pastor dies

A popular Carol Stream priest and former fire chaplain died Saturday after years of complications due to diabetes.

The Rev. Thomas Schutter, 68, of St. Luke Catholic Church was found collapsed in the church rectory shortly before 3 p.m., said St. Luke associate pastor and longtime caregiver Sister Barbara Rowan.

Carol Stream fire officials responded to the scene. Schutter was transported to Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield, where he was pronounced dead Saturday afternoon.

Throughout 2010 Schutter was in and out of the hospital for various health complications, Rowan said. He had quadruple bypass surgery in 2006 and was partially blind, using a cane or walker.

“But he was always able to keep on going as pastor and leader of the church,” Rowan said.

Schutter, who grew up in Bensenville, attended Mundelein College in Niles and went through the seminary program there. Rowan and Schutter first met in 1962, when Schutter was still a seminarian, she said.

In 1979, he asked her to start a new church with him in Homer Glen. Together they acquired the land for what is now St. Bernard’s parish, built the structure and gathered a community of followers, Rowan said.

At the time, Schutter also served as chaplain for the Homer Fire Protection district.

In 1992, Rowan and Schutter both came to St. Luke parish in Carol Stream. Schutter devoted all of his time to his parishioners, Rowan said.

“He was there for his people 24/7,” she said. “If he could to anything to bring them peace, or to help them live a better life, he would do it.”

Schutter served as fire chaplain for the Carol Stream fire department from 1992 to 2006, when he left because his failing eyesight prevented him from driving. But throughout those years, Schutter arrived at the scenes of car accidents and fires as soon as fire officials did.

“He would literally hold the person’s hand as we were cutting them out of the vehicle and go with them to the hospital,” Carol Stream Lt. Martin Walker said. “There were families that had fires and had lost everything, and Father Tom would be there every step of the way as they were dealing with the worst period of their lives.”

Schutter often helped people find shelter after fires and provided spiritual guidance to Carol Stream firefighters on and off the job.

The fire chaplain job in was a perfect fit for Schutter, Walker said, because “he was taking care of his own flock.”

“His greatest accomplishments were primarily personal things he did for his people,” Rowan said. “The things that brought him the greatest happiness were helping people build their relationships with God and their faith.”

Schutter is survived by his younger brother, Fred Schutter of Itasca. Memorial services have not yet been arranged.