Father Gerald Theis SVD, who served in remote areas of Papua New Guinea, died at Techny on March 10 at age 92.
“He was a model missionary and model priest—hardworking, dedicated to people, prayerful and faithful in all that he did,” said Father Joseph Bisson SVD, a seminary classmate and fellow missionary in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. “He also served as vicar general, which means he was second in command and managed the archdiocese when the archbishop was away. He was a very spiritual man.”
A pioneering missionary in Papua New Guinea, Father Theis was ordained to the priesthood in 1960 and left for the Archdiocese of Mount Hagen (Papua New Guinea) in 1961.
For the first eight years of his priesthood, he worked in the mountains with the Kanakas people who had never seen a European or a trader. He lived among them and provided the first formal evangelization training for the local population.
He once told the Catholic New World (now the Chicago Catholic), “It was a culture of survival of the fittest. They were still using digging sticks and stone axes…. They had a natural informal religion with faith in a higher power.”
To communicate with the tribal people, Father Theis learned the Melanesian Pidgin language. During that time, he lived in a bush house with no plumbing, electricity, refrigeration or telephone.
To visit the 53 mission stations and 20,000 people in his care, he walked thousands of miles. One circuit took six weeks to traverse, sometimes wading through swamps and crossing rickety, vine bridges over treacherous rivers.
To respond to the immediate needs of the people he served, he also founded an elementary school.
In 1969, Father Theis was appointed education secretary and archdiocesan supervisor of schools and moved to the city of Mount Hagen. He also served as chairman of the Governing Council of Holy Trinity Teachers College in Mount Hagen.
In addition, Bishop George Bernarding SVD asked him to be the liaison between the archdiocese and the government regarding work permits for foreign church workers and to establish a printing service to facilitate the teaching of apologetics.
Eventually, Father Theis was appointed vicar general of the Archdiocese of Mount Hagen, as well as chancellor, consultor and a member of the Board of Trustees.
Born in Aurora, Ill., in 1932, he was the youngest of Catherine (nee Guirsch) and George Theis’s seven children. His first career choice was to be a stunt pilot. Around age 13, he felt called to the priesthood. His two aspirations merged when he learned about the Divine Word Missionaries who flew planes to travel remote parts of the world.
The young Jerry Theis entered Divine Word Seminary at East Troy, Wis., in 1946 and professed vows in 1952. In addition to his seminary education, he held a master’s degree in education from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
In 2013, Father Theis returned to the United States and took up residence at Techny. In semi-retirement, he regularly filled in at Evanston’s St. Nicholas, where his grandparents were married, and other area parishes.
His wake will be on Friday, March 14, at 9 a.m., followed by a 10:30 funeral Mass, in the Divine Word Residence Chapel. He will be buried at St. Mary Cemetery at Techny.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in the name of Father Theis can be made for the care of retired and infirmed missionaries and sent to The Rector, Divine Word Residence, 1901 Waukegan Road, P.O. Box 6000, Techny, IL 60082-6000.