Deacon Frederick Schoennagel, ‘Deacon Pop,’ dies at 88

Deacon Frederick Schoennagel Jr., a longtime deacon who served at St.Thomas More, Baltimore; Church of the Annunciation, Rosedale, and, most recently, St. John the Evangelist, Hydes, died May 2. He was 88 and had been a deacon for 44 years.

“Deacon Fred was truly dedicated to his ministry and his family,” said Father William Franken, pastor of St. Joan of Arc, Aberdeen, who worked with Deacon Schoennagel at St. John. “He enjoyed the ministry very much, especially baptisms. He was always someone who was very positive and very committed to his faith.”

Faith was always an important part of Deacon Schoennagel’s life. He was born May 17, 1934, in Baltimore City and attended St. Bernard Catholic Church and School. He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps while at City College High School, and served in Korea. His family still has the rosary he prayed with while in Korea, made solely of string.

After returning from overseas, Deacon Schoennagel met his future wife, Margaret, on a blind date. They married in 1958 at St. Dominic in Baltimore, and from that day on, he always referred to her as his “bride.”

The couple had four children – Deborah, Dorothy, Frederick III and David – whom they raised in Parkville while attending St. Thomas More parish. 

Deacon Schoennagel was a journeyman steamfitter, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He later became an estimator and project manager, retiring from Whiting-Turner Contracting Company in 1999.

Dorothy Rosenthal, one of Deacon Schoennagel’s daughters, said her father regularly attended 6:30 a.m. Mass at St. Thomas More and volunteered in many areas of the parish. He was a member of the choir and the Holy Name Society, president of the PTA, a CYO volunteer, and he trained and directed the altar servers.

“He got a calling to become a permanent deacon, and he asked my mom and my siblings and me if it was Ok,” Rosenthal said. “I don’t think we really knew everything that it entailed at the time, but through the years, he was able to make an incredible impact on people.”

He was ordained May 26, 1979. He first served at St. Thomas More and moved to the Church of the Annunciation in Rosedale in 1992. In 2000, he transferred to St. John the Evangelist, where his grandchildren attended school, and earned his nickname “Deacon Pop.”  

“When my daughter attended St. John, she was very proud to have her grandfather there, and she loved that her friends loved him too,” Rosenthal said. “All the kids called him ‘Deacon Pop.’”

“Deacon Fred was a great counselor, and a great role model, especially to the school children and the altar servers he trained,” said Martha Schumacher, who worked with Deacon Schoennagel at St. John from 2009 until he retired. “He was a very down-to-earth man, and he was just a good guy. He loved his wife and his family so much, and you just felt the love when you were around him.”

Schumacher said Deacon Schoennagel also had a great sense of humor, which Rosenthal said he inherited from his grandmother.

“Fred was a bit of a jokester,” Father Franken recalled. “He was uplifting and funny with people. I really enjoyed having him on the staff.”

Among Rosenthal’s favorite memories of her father are the inspirational notes he put inside her and her siblings’ lunch bags.

“He was our hero,” she said. “And he had a real compassion for people.”

Deacon Schoennagel retired from active ministry Jan. 1, 2012. His “bride” died in 2018, which was the 60th year of their marriage. In addition to his children and their spouses, he is survived by 10 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. He was predeceased by a great-granddaughter.

A funeral Mass was offered May 6 at St. John the Evangelist. Father Pete Literal and Father Franken were concelebrants. Deacon Jim Mann preached the homily and Deacon Mike McCoy also participated in the Mass.

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