The Rev. John Schlegel, S.J. is permanently memorialized in the Harper Center after his bust was unveiled last Saturday.

A panel that included Creighton President, The Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, S.J., artist Littleton Alston and Eric Schlegel, Schlegel’s nephew, who spoke on behalf of the family, revealed the bust.

Hendrickson said during the unveil that “this is a remarkable moment for Creighton University to remember the impact of Fr. Schlegel.”

The bust is on permanent display in front of the Schlegel Center for Service and Justice, the organization that was “very dear to him,” said Kelly Tadeo Orbik, associate director of the service center.

“It was Father Schlegel’s decision to put us in this place,” said Tadeo Orbik on the service center’s location in Harper. According to Tadeo Orbik, Schlegel wanted the service center to be on the first stop of a student tour.

The location of the service center reflects the values that Schlegel tried to instill in students, said Tim Sully, Development Director at the Sienna Francis House, a local homeless shelter.

“Service is a lifetime commitment; it doesn’t stop after graduation,” said Sully on Schlegel’s commitment to the program.

Alston designed the bust. 

Alston worked for Schlegel on several projects, including a statue of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

Alston sat with Schlegel five times to capture the “likeness and energy” of the former Creighton president.

The process took over a year and a half, before Schlegel’s diagnosis of cancer. 

Alston said that Schlegel had a suspicion of an upcoming illness in his life.

“He had an excellent way of knowing things before they happened,” said Alston.