Thank You For Your Ministry: Fr. JJ Schwall

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Fr. JJ Schwall

Fr. John Schwall, known as Fr. JJ, came to the priesthood later in life. Born in Detroit, Mich. and having attended high school in Yakima, Wash., he grew up an active Catholic. For nearly 40 years he was employed in many different professions, beginning as a congressional page and finishing as director of computer systems for the Peppermill and Rainbow casinos.

Then, at the age of 52, Fr. Schwall felt ready to give his life over to God, he said.

Unlike many other priests who discerned their vocation early, “I wasn’t quite sure” about the call, he said. “The vow of obedience always scared me, and it wasn’t until I got into my 40s that my attitude started to change about all that.”

“I used to think that I had to obey as a condition,” he said. “Now I understand that I get to obey as a condition. You have the opportunity to say, ‘I’m doing as Jesus did with his life’ – his chief characteristic was obedience.”

Fr. Schwall attended university in Milwaukee for a year before entering Sacred Heart School of Theology in Milwaukee, where he graduated with a Master of Divinity degree. He was ordained a priest on May 18, 2006 by the Most Rev. George H. Niederauer, eighth Bishop of Salt Lake City, who had just been installed as Archbishop of San Francisco. His first assignment was as parochial vicar of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish. Since 2008 he has served as pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Salt Lake City. Since 2019 he has been dean of the Salt Lake Deanery. 

While a seminarian, Fr. Schwall received some advice from a retired priest who told him that he would be in continual formation asa priest. “‘The best thing you can do is understand that priests are formed by the parishioners that they serve,’ he told me. There’s a real feeling of security and wonderment that God is working on my priestly identity always through the parishioners that I’m serving.”

“Fr. JJ has often told the parishioners he loved being their pastor in his homilies and on other occasions,” said Holy Cross Sr. Catherine Kamphaus, who has been a longtime parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes, (Salt Lake City). “The parish will truly miss him after his 13 years with us. We wish him a blessed and positive future.”

Upon retirement, Fr. Schwall plans to move to Wells, Nev. There, he hopes to be able to help the parish priest provide services to the mission church. He is also planning to develop, with longtime associates from the casino industry, a computer project related to robotics and food preparation.

A retirement celebration for Fr. Schwall is scheduled for Sunday, July 18 from noon to 2 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church, 670 South 1100 East, Salt Lake City.