Sacred Heart Priest, 58, Dies; Memorial Sunday
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Many of the parishioners at Sacred Heart Church in Du Quoin thought that maybe Father Tom Stout was the one--"a soft-spoken and unassuming man--a gentle giant" with the ability to effect healing and change, according to his senior aide, Linda Sherman.
"He was down to earth. We just loved him," said parishioner Jacqueline Williams. Mrs. Sherman concurred.
Father Stout, only 58, was found dead in the living room of the church's rectory at 8:15 a.m. Friday morning.
The morning before, Father Stout had called the Shermans and said he wasn't feeling well. They accompanied him to Marshall Browning Hospital where tests revealed no sign of cardiac difficulty. Mrs. Sherman said doctors felt the discomfort was more gastrointestinal and prescribed antibiotics or anti-inflamatories, and suggested plenty of rest.
While Father Stout spoke of a heart issue in 2005 while priest at the parish in Red Bud, his death was apparently not an extension of that condition. He walked regularly, adhered to a prescription regimen and was generally in good health.
Family members suspect a possible blood clot.
What caused his death pales by how much he was loved in life. Father Robert Flannery of the Carbondale who conducted the 1 p.m. Memorial Service for Father Stout at Sacred Heart on Sunday spoke of Father Stout's sincerity, yet having an uncanny ability to break the weightiness of his calling to Du Quoin with moments of comic relief. He loved to laugh at himself.
One of the songs played during the memorial was "This Little Light of Mine."
Only three months before, Father Stout had asked the Belleville Diocese for the fulltime appointment in Du Quoin. It would put him closer to his family in Cairo and in Mounds. The Diocese concurred, ending the short-lived tenure of Father Bernie, who opened the parish's eyes as to the Catholic Church's view of the world. It was a cultural and learned pastorate.
The Sacred Heart Church has benefitted from every mindset of the church and its priests.
To many, father Haffner was the Sacred Heart Church. Father Angelo Lombardo was of Italian descent, and parishioners always knew where he stood. Father Steve Humphrey was well-traveled and encouraged parishioners to find their way. Father Richard Daly helped navigate the church through extensive renovations in the 1990s. His committees brought great attention to the detail of these renovations. Father Steve had been vice-principal at Althoff High School and Du Quoin was his first parish. An admitted introvert, he had a huge love of the parish, but conveyed it quietly.
Father Harry Jerome was a traditionalist who focused on the history of the church and the Catholic faith. He was a tremendous homilist. To know him and understand him was to love him.
African-born Father Bernie brought a tremendous education and command of the English language--elocution and enunciation--to the pulpit. He was humbled by his appointment to Du Quoin, and when his appointment ended the simple eloquence that was his gift moved the residents of the community in a written farewell statement.
The Searby Funeral Home, church members and the Belleville diocese worked to make Sunday's memorial something special--and it was.
Nearly a dozen priests and many nuns were among those in the cathedral. Members of the Knights of Columbus in full dress regalia added to the propriety and reverence of the hour and 20-minute service.
Mass of Christian Burial was held at 11 a.m., Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 at the St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cairo with Bishop Stanley Schlarmann officiating. Final Commendations were by Bishop Edward K. Braxton.
"Everyone in Du Quoin has been very gracious," Father Stout told the newspaper during an August interview. "They have greeted me with open arms," he adds.
"I grew up in St. Patrick's Church and attended Catholic grade school," he told the newspaper. He served the Red Bud parish for 13 years and stayed connected with his friends there through eMail. He smiled and told this reporter, "I don't tweet or blog or anything like that. I use a cell phone and eMail." He said his calling into the Catholic ministry came from his deep-seated upbringing in the Catholic Church. "It came out of my life in the church. I work in and for the church and I see it as something very good. It is where God is teaching me and calling me," he said.
According to Linda Sherman, his role in the beginning months was as an observer and listener. Mrs. Sherman was his confidant, and he conveyed to her that, in time, there were a few things that all seemed in agreement about changing. There always are.
He said he believes in youth ministry and retreat programs, but during the first year wanted the church to define what his work needed to be.
We live our life through experiences and one of his most memorable was a three-month sabbatical to Vatican City in 2000 where he studied Catholicism and toured the tombs of the church's great leaders. A photo of he and classmates with Pope John Paul II hung in his office. "These are blessings many never see."
A new appointment to Sacred Heart could take time. There is a shortage of priests, and only recently many of the vacancies were filled by the handful available.
For Du Quoin, we can choose to labor over our losses or, instead, cherish the time we had.
Father Tom Stout would choose the latter.