Doctor, who helped a saint toward canonization, dies

As a physician and researcher, Dr. Edward E. Gatz was a healer.

But it was his own miraculous healing that captured worldwide attention and led to the canonization of a saint.

His healing from cancer gave Gatz an extra 37 years of life and was the miracle that made then-Blessed Jeanne Jugan – the foundress of the Little Sisters of the Poor – officially a saint in 2009.

Gatz died April 21 at his Omaha home after a brief illness. He was 89.

He is being remembered for both the inspiring cure and an inspiring, faith-filled life.

Gatz had “unwavering strength, deep faith, and boundless love for his friends and family,” his family said.

His funeral was held April 27 at Christ the King Church in Omaha. Burial with military honors was at Calvary Cemetery, also in Omaha.

Survivors include his wife, Jeanne; son, Bart, and his wife, Barbie; grandchildren Katherine, William, Harrison, Andrew, Charlotte and Edward (Warren); and many nieces and nephews.

Gatz’s life “was one of resilience and purpose,” family members said in a written tribute. He was an orphan whose father died before he was born, and whose mother died of cancer when he was just 14.

He served in the Korean War and went on to college, earning a doctorate degree in physiology and pharmacology and a medical degree. He authored more than 185 published works and cared for countless patients as an anesthesiologist at Bergan Mercy Hospital in Omaha.

But at 51, a diagnosis of cancer in his esophagus changed his life. He was given six months to live and underwent palliative surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Meanwhile, his distraught wife, Jeanne, turned to a family friend, the late Jesuit Father Richard McGloin, for help. He recently had spent time with the Little Sisters of the Poor and suggested praying through the intercession of their foundress, Jeanne Jugan, who had been beatified in 1982.

St. Jeanne Jugan (1792-1879), by Léon Brune, 1855

The priest, the wife and other family members and friends began beseeching God daily through her intercession.

Gradually, Gatz became aware that his symptoms were lessening, his wife said. Scans continued to look promising. The weeks he thought he had to live turned to years.

An insurance company became suspicious of his disability claim and began to investigate. Tests showed the cancer was gone, and Gatz became a walking miracle.

After more years went by, the Gatzes were urged to report the miracle to the Little Sisters of the Poor, along with medical documentation.

After a rigorous examination of the evidence, Church officials agreed that Gatz had indeed received a miracle. St. Jeanne Jugan was canonized in Rome in 2009, and the Gatzes were on hand for the canonization ceremony.

Gatz remained humble about his healing, always saying, “It wasn’t me. It was all God,” family members said.

Jeanne Gatz said she and Father McGloin couldn’t take credit either. “It certainly was not us in any way,” she said by telephone.

Her husband, she said, through his miraculous healing, became an inspiration for a lot of people. The couple, in turn, heard of other people’s miracles through the intercession of St. Jeanne Jugan.

The entire unfolding of Gatz’s miracle over the years “was a quite a journey, and a wonderful experience,” his wife said.

She said she continues to pray to St. Jeanne Jugan for her intercession and lovingly remembers her husband and his legacy.

“I’m proud of him as a man, as a professional, as a Catholic.”