Schuh, Henry F. (1890-1965)

When Henry Frederick Schuh was not yet four years old, he narrowly escaped what surely would have been fatal injury falling off a moving train on a family trip back to Ohio, if not for the quick thinking of his mother's traveling companion who, in Henry's father's words, "caught him by the skirt just as he was ready to topple down the steps."

Three years earlier on May 30, 1890, the Rev. Lewis Herman Schuh and his wife Mary Loy Schuh welcomed their third child, and second-eldest son, Henry into their growing family, which at that time called in Tacoma, Washington home. Pastor Schuh was serving as pastor of Trinity Church, Tacoma. The family remained in Tacoma until 1895 when Pastor Schuh accepted a pastorate at Christ Lutheran Church in Columbus, Ohio, and the position of housefather at Capital University. Henry was named for his paternal and maternal uncles Henry Loy and Frederick Schuh.

Both branches of Henry's family, the Loys and the Schuhs were quite prominent in the history of the American Lutheran Church (ALC). His maternal grandfather was Matthias Loy, who served as the president of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Adjacent States from 1860-1878 and 1880-1894 and his paternal uncle, the Rev. Henry J. Schuh served as president of the Western District of the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio and Other States (JSO) from 1923-1929. Henry's father, Lewis Schuh, in addition to serving congregations in Washington state and Ohio, served as the first president of the JSO's Western District from 1892-1894 and served as president of Capital University from 1901-1912.

Henry received his primary, secondary, and post secondary education at Capital University, first attending the Capital University Academy from 1903-1906, then Capital University's college from 1906-1911 where he received a bachelor of arts degree in 1910 and a bachelor of science degree in 1911. He then went on to attend the Evangelical Lutheran Theological Seminary, Columbus, Ohio from 1911-1915 where he received a certificate in theology. He completed graduate work at Toledo University in 1922 and received a master of arts.

After teaching at Luther College, St. Paul, Minnesota for one year, Henry was ordained into the JSO at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Toledo, on July 4, 1915. The first congregation he served was Peace Lutheran Church, Ashland, Ohio, which he served for one year. He then became assistant pastor at St. Paul's in Toledo, where his father served as senior pastor. Henry served there from 1916-1931. Shortly before beginning his service at St. Paul's he married Amelia Charlotte Koerner on July 11, 1916. They had three daughters: Mary Ruth, Virginia Louise, and Emily Bell.

When the JSO merged with the Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States and the Lutheran Synod of Buffalo in 1930 to become the American Lutheran Church, Pastor Schuh became its first Director of Stewardship and Finance. He served in this capacity for 19 years and during his tenure total benevolences to the church increased more than four-fold from $856,735 to $3,801,088. Under his watch, a debt of more than $800,000 that the new church incurred upon its creation was eliminated and a capital fund of almost $1,000,000 was established. Pastor Schuh, known as a specialist in church finance, steered the ALC through difficult financial times resulting from the Great Depression and the years of sacrifice and measured spending that were required while the country was at war in Europe and the Pacific. Schuh remained in this post until 1950 when he was elected president of the ALC on the third ballot.

During Schuh₂s tenure as third president of the ALC, the church confronted such issues as declining supply of men to become ordained pastors, merger with other Lutheran church bodies, continued support of the National Lutheran Council and the Lutheran World Federation, and, clarification of the church₂s policies on holy communion, divorce, and remarriage. In addition to his service as president of the church, Schuh was also the chairman of its executive committee.

Outside of the church, Pastor Schuh held other positions in Lutheran cooperative bodies as well as ecumenical councils. He served as a member of the Joint Union Committee (JUC), the committee created to plan for the merger of the ALC with the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the United Evangelical Lutheran Church that would create The American Lutheran Church in 1960. He served as a vice-president of the National Lutheran Council, a member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, a member of the executive committee of the Lutheran World Federation, and a member of the Lutheran World Federation Commission on World Service. When the LWF was a division of the NLC, Schuh served a term as its chairman. He also served as a delegate to the first meeting of the LWF in 1947 in Lund, Sweden.

In recognition of his contributions to the church, Pastor Schuh received several honorary degrees. He received honorary doctor of laws degrees from Capital University in 1937, Carthage College, Illinois, in 1951, and Augustana College, Sioux Falls in 1953. Warburg University honored him with a doctor of divinity degree in 1957.

In 1960 when the merger occurred that created TALC, Dr. Schuh was named honorary president for life. This was an honor bestowed upon him by unanimous vote of the JUC. The General Convention of TALC elected him to a six-year term on TALC₂s Board of Appeals in 1962. In addition to his honorary presidency, he was given West Germany's Cross of the Order of Merit for his efforts to provide aid to Germans after World War II and to promote exchange programs between West Germany and the United States. Dr. Schuh and his wife retired to Columbus, Ohio in 1961.

Pastor Schuh was known as a man of varied interests and hobbies. After his retirement, he was supplied with a copy of every new book published by the Augsburg Publishing House. These additions to his library continued to promote a lifelong love of reading and learning. His hobbies included metalwork, jewelry making, gardening, and handspinning yarn and thread. He and his daughter Emily, nicknamed Fritz, were featured in a February 1946 article in the Columbus Dispatch magazine. The article titled "Homespun Hobby" detail Pastor Schuh's fondness for the art and craft involved in spinning. He said it had an "antidotal effect." According to Pastor Schuh, "You can't spin on tension. Either you're relaxed or you don't spin." One of the reasons Schuh developed an interest in what would become his hobbies, was because his father believed that his children should have hobbies in addition to their chosen work. L.H. Schuh sent his son to a copper school. When time came for Schuh's daughter Emily to develop a hobby, her father suggested weaving. The two of them spent three weeks in the summer of 1945 at the Penland School of Handicraft where they learned the techniques involved in spinning and weaving.

On December 21, 1965, the TALC as well as Lutherans from other churches and countries lost one of their most beloved churchmen when Henry F. Schuh died of a heart attack. He was 75. His funeral was held at Christ Lutheran Church in Columbus on December 23. When interviewed for a story about Pastor Schuh's passing, Dr. George Schultz, longtime friend and colleague remarked, "Dr. Schuh above all was honest with his own convictions, and honest with the Church. The greatest thing that can be said of him is that he was God's man for the hour and willing to accept the demands that circumstances of economics and church history placed upon him."

From the description of The Rev. Henry F. Schuh Papers 1931-1965. (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Library). WorldCat record id: 137272416