Joe, the founder of the Pro-Life Action League, was a personal friend to Paul and me for so many years. It all started in 1977 when Joe and Paul worked together giving speeches—Joe on abortion and pro-life activism, and Paul on pro-life political action. From there the relationship grew, and in 1980 when Joe started PLAL, he sought out Paul’s help with fundraising for his fledgling organization—an organization that would become the driving force behind peaceful pro-life action all across this nation, and frankly, the world.

On a personal level, our children will forever remember him as the tall guy in a white suit who towered over everyone else at a Papal Mass celebrated by St. John Paul II on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. He guided us to our seats near the front of the Mass as though he were a papal usher. And he also taught our children how to dig for Roman coins—coins he had already planted prior to their arrival—near the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. He was that kind of a man—a friend and fellow warrior forever committed to ending the slaughter of the babies.

Joe, we will miss you, but we know that you are now directing the angels in the art of activism. Your dedication will live on for many years—in your legacy, in our memories, and in the memories of all those whose lives were touched, changed, or saved because you loved them.

Joe, we love you, and we miss you. We invite all those who read this to join us in praying for the happy repose of the soul of the pro-life movement’s gentle giant, Joe Scheidler.