Let us pray in thanksgiving for the life of Fr. William F. Gerut, SJ, who died on July 17, 2025 at St. Camillus Jesuit Community in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin. He was 88 years old. May he rest in peace.
Bill is preceded in death by his parents, John and Grace (nee McNellis) and his siblings: Robert Gerut, John Gerut, and Mary Jane Sullivan. He is survived by his brother, Charles Gerut, and nieces and nephews.
Bill was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on January 6, 1937. Before entering the Society, he graduated from Campion Jesuit High School in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin (1954). He entered the Missouri Province of the Society of Jesus on August 8, 1954 at the Jesuit Novitiate in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and became a member of the Wisconsin Province when it was formed in 1955. He was ordained on June 7, 1967 at the Church of the Gesu in Milwaukee and pronounced final vows on April 22, 1976 at Creighton Preparatory School.
While in the Society, Bill earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy (1960), a licentiate degree in philosophy (1961), a master’s degree in history (1968), and a bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology (1968) from Saint Louis University.
During regency, Bill taught history at Creighton Preparatory School in Omaha, Nebraska (1961-1964). After ordination, he taught religion and social studies at St. Francis Mission on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota (1968-1974). He returned to Creighton Prep in 1974 where he taught history until 1981.
In 1981, Bill left secondary education and spent the next four decades performing pastoral ministry. He was associate pastor (1981-1985) and pastor (1985-1987) at the Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Mankato, Minneapolis. He was also the associate pastor of St. Isaac Jogues Parish in Rapid City, South Dakota (1988-1991) and pastor of St. Gabriel and St. John’s Parishes in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin (1995-2002). Bill was a retreat and spiritual director at Creighton University’s Retreat Center in Griswold, Iowa (2008-2012) and as a chaplain at CHI Health Creighton Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska (2012-2017).
Bill also cared for fellow Jesuits as minister of the following communities: Creighton Prep (1975-1981), Holy Rosary Mission (1991-1995), Creighton University (2003-2008). In 2018, Bill was missioned to St. Camillus Jesuit Community to pray for the Church and the Society.
Bill was a faithful Jesuit priest who served God’s people and his brother Jesuits in a variety of ministries and locations. He provided excellent cura personalis to all he encountered: students, faculty and staff, parishioners, retreatants, and Jesuits. He was kind and available to the people to whom he ministered and a quiet, practical, and steady Jesuit brother in community. He touched the lives of many people.
Fr. Sean O’Sullivan, SJ, has these remembrances:
Bill was quiet, strong-willed, and independent but was also sincerely interested in others’ well-being. His warm smile and engaging sense of humor drew people to him. He called everybody by their name. He enjoyed speaking about his family and telling stories about his studies at Campion High School.
