Tim Luckhaupt never sought praise for his work in 33 years with the Catholic Conference of Ohio (CCO), but his successor as its executive director said he was an outstanding voice in the legislature for the state’s bishops in matters of education, health care, pro-life issues and other public policy activities.

Luckhaupt, 78, died on Monday, June 6. He had served the conference as government programs director from 1974 to 1988 and as executive director from 1988 to 2007, when he retired and was succeeded by Carolyn Jurkowitz.

“Tim was a real force for good in his role as an advocate in the public sector for the bishops of Ohio’s six Roman Catholic and three Eastern Catholic dioceses,” said Jurkowitz, who took over Luckhaupt’s role upon his retirement and served as CCO executive director until August 2021.

“He never sought the limelight but built a strong staff of people who were a constant, strong presence in the Statehouse and were respected for their gracious but forceful efforts on behalf of Catholic schools, hospitals, parishes and other institutions.”

“Tim truly was a servant of the Church,” said current CCO executive director Jerry Freewalt, who succeeded Jurkowitz when she retired last year. “Although Tim had a special passion for Catholic education, he cared deeply about all ministries of the Church in Ohio. His faithful leadership and dedication touched many lives.” 

Freewalt was with the Office of Social Concerns of the Diocese of Columbus for 26 years until being hired by the CCO. “During my time with the diocese, I got to know Tim when I attended various department and committee meetings at the conference offices,” he said. 

“When I walked by his office, he always asked me how I was doing. Tim was sincerely interested in what I had to say and replied with kindness and good advice. I could tell he lived the Christian virtues, and this served the conference well.”

Luckhaupt began serving the Catholic Church in 1965 as a teacher at Columbus Bishop Ready High School. He was there until 1971, taking two years during that period to serve with the U.S. Army. In the fall of 1971, he became principal of Columbus St. Christopher School, taking on the additional duties of principal of Columbus Our Lady of Victory School the following year and of Columbus Trinity Elementary School (a merger of St. Christopher, Our Lady of Victory and Columbus St. Margaret of Cortona schools) the year after that before coming to the CCO.   

Luckhaupt was the fifth director of the state conference, which was founded as the Catholic Welfare Conference of Ohio in December 1945. He succeeded Nelson Harper in that role. Father John Staunton was the founding director, serving from 1945 to 1956, and was followed by James Hollern, Ted Staudt and Harper.

“Ohio had taken its first steps to provide nonsectarian assistance to Catholic and other nonpublic schools when Nelson hired Tim to be a liaison between the conference and the legislature in 1974,” Jurkowitz said. 

“The state had allowed public schools to provide bus transportation to private schools in the mid-1960s and had permitted nonpublic schools to receive specified benefits and materials known as auxiliary services from the state beginning in 1967.

“Tim’s efforts greatly expanded the auxiliary services program. His work also resulted in creation of the administrative cost reimbursement program, through which the state pays nonpublic schools for the costs involved in complying with state educational mandates. 

“Thanks to Tim’s efforts, in every two-year session of the legislature during Tim’s tenure, more state money and services became available to nonpublic schools.”

At the time of Luckhaupt’s hiring, the CCO also had a health-care affairs director who dealt with state agencies on behalf of the many small Catholic hospitals then existing. 

In 1987, shortly before Harper’s retirement, Jurkowitz as education director and Jim Tobin as social concerns director were added to the conference staff as it began to increase involvement in areas such as the death penalty, immigration, pro-life matters, poverty, hunger, housing, criminal justice, gun violence, payday lending, elder care, care for creation, human trafficking and religious liberty.

“One of the most significant things Tim did was his work in successfully holding off challenges to the Cleveland school voucher program in state and federal courts, going all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2002,” Jurkowitz said. “That program ultimately led to today’s Ohio EdChoice scholarships, which the state began in 2005.” 

The EdChoice program gives students from designated public schools the opportunity to attend participating private schools and provides scholarship opportunities at those schools for low-income students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

Beginning in the late 20th century and continuing through the early years of this century, most of the state’s small Catholic hospitals were absorbed into larger Catholic and private health-care organizations, eliminating the need for a separate health-care office in the conference. Tim Pond retired as head of that department in 2010. Luckhaupt, Jurkowitz and Tobin dealt with health-care matters in the following years.

“Another important matter Tim (Luckhaupt) worked on, which was sort of under the radar for most parishioners, involved discussions with the state’s bishops and the leaders of congregations of religious sisters to create a standard schedule of pay and health-care benefits for retired sisters in Ohio,” Jurkowitz said. 

“That became increasingly important as the role of sisters changed, and many sisters stayed in the community after retirement rather than returning to a convent.

“Fundraising for long-term diocesan and parish needs also underwent a big change during Tim’s tenure. When he started with the conference, organizations like The Catholic Foundation in Columbus and other diocesan foundations didn’t exist. Most parish efforts to provide for their future involved small-scale efforts such as bingos, raffles and festivals. 

“Tim worked with the state and with parishes, schools and other Catholic organizations to develop more sophisticated ways of raising money for the Church’s long-term needs,” Jurkowitz said.

“Tim also provided great help to the Ohio Catholic Education Association (OCSEA),” she said. “People there called him the king of the OCSEA annual convention because he organized it each year and put on great programs that were fun and gave teachers a chance to gain their necessary in-service hours every year. 

“Proceeds from those programs also helped greatly with advocacy efforts for Catholic education. Besides Ohio teachers, they attracted others from Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

“Tim grew with the conference,” Jurkowitz said. “He came in really organized, provided great leadership, hired a great staff and never tried to take credit for the things they did. The bottom line for him is that he was a man who got things done.”

Luckhaupt is survived by his wife of 54 years, Karen; sons Kevin and Kris and their respective wives, both named Jennifer; daughter Erin; and six grandchildren.