George Schaefer's Life (Nov. 13, 1902 –Feb. 27. 1984)

by Shirley MacKinney

With apologies for errors and omissions memories darkened by the passing of time, the life of George Schaefer is remembered in somewhat the following way

George Schaefer was born on November 13, 1902 in a small home on SOM Center Road in Willoughby Township, Ohio. This site is the approximate present location of the Willoughby Hills Friends Church which he returned to build some sixty years later.

Little is known of George's early youth other than the fact that the family soon moved to Cleveland and he was orphaned at an early age. He and brother Bill (3 years older) were then placed in the St. Vincent DePaul Orphanage and later sent to the Hudson Boys Farm.

George did not easily accept institutional life and frequently escaped. Formal education was apparently limited to a few years of elementary school.

Thanks to the kindness of sister Rose and husband Floyd Ely, this restless teenager was taken in and given his first experience of living in a stable family environment. George learned the carpentry trade from his older brother Charlie and later passed on this skill to his nephew Art Ely. Together they built many homes in the greater Cleveland area.

In the early 1920's George was married to Edna Romig and their first son Melvin was born in 1926 while they were residing on Royal Road in the Collinwood area of Cleveland, 0. Next moving to Mentor, daughter Shirley was born four years later.

In about 1933. with money borrowed from brother Bill, the Schaefers purchased the family home on Munson Road in Mentor.

During the next few years George worked as a carpenter foreman primarily in residential home construction. Working mostly for Contractor Art Faber, a combination of a depressed economy and a hot temper led to several alternative employment situations. Most remembered was the time he commuted to Meadville, Pa. where he was General Superintendent for the construction of a new Post Office.

Thanks to Georges ambition and resourcefulness, the family prospered during these depression years. Fresh vegetables were grown and sold from a roadside stand and from a pick up truck in the Nottingham and Collinwood neighborhoods of Cleveland. A Holstein cow named 'Daisy" supplied milk for the family and frequently for the whole neighborhood. Yearly reunions of the Schaefer and Romig families were highlights of the summers. The family home on Munson Road was always a busy place. All seamed perfect when second son Dale arrived in May of 1941.

The advent of WWI1 brought many changes to the family. George went to work building minesweepers at the Stadium Boat Works and upon graduating from high school, Melvin entered the Military service. Edna was found to be suffering from terminal cancer and George soon found himself widowed with a daughter in high school and a four year old son to raise.

As the war ended George found a unique opportunity to specialize in roofing and it was while applying this trade that he met and married Loretta Greener. Loretta had been widowed and left with a ten year old daughter named Georgene. Since there was only room for one George in the house, Georgene was affectionately dubbed "Pete" by her new father and has carried this handled ever since. With Melvin and Shirley both soon off to college a new family of was formed with Pete and Dale to be reared by George and Loretta.

In 1949 Melvin was married and went to work for George in the "Schaefer Roofing Co.". Business was good and expanding every day but George became restless. In 1952 he sold his interests in the roofing business and purchased a farm in Sigel., Pa.

During the years that followed the family continued to live in Mentor with increasing amounts of time being spent at the farm in Sigel.. The front half of the Munson Road property was sold and George remodeled the stables in the rear into a smaller home. The entire summer of 1954 was spent at the farm in Sigel and is fondly remembered because of an orphaned fawn that was nursed in the home. Tears were shed as was turned away in Clear Creek State Park so the children could return to Ohio to attend school that fall.

Employment was a succession of many situations involving the construction trades. Working off and on in the roofing business he also worked in partnership with Jack Lucas and built several churches while in business with Geo. Williams. Kieth Patterson and George Yaxley also have fond memories of working with George. Always a hustler with a sharp mind and great resourcefulness he was often sought out to solve a problem.

As George reached his sixties and his second family of children married and left he again became restless. The Mentor home and the 8ige Farm were sold and George and Loretta tried living alternately between Juneau, Alaska Are Pete had settled and Golden, New Mexico were Dale was located. They finally choose to settle in Moab, Utah. This unlikely choice has been attributed to impressions of the ancient city of Petra which they had visited on a trip to the Holy Land. First purchasing a small farm in the foothills of the LaSalle Mountains, with advancing age they later choose to move into town. It was in this home that George went to be with his Lord on February 27. 1984.

Proceeded in death by his first wife Edna he is survived by; Beloved wife Loretta who continues to reside in Moab.

Son ‑ Melvin . Schaefer, Mayor of the City of Willoughby Hills, Ohio and husband of Jeannette ‑ children. Diane Herzog and Nancy Hatfield, also grandson Daniel B. Herzog.

Daughter ‑ Shirley MacKinney RN., wife Dr. Archie MacKinney, Madison, Wisc, >‑ children Julie. Theodore John.

Daughter ‑ Georgene (Pete) Davidson, wife of George Davidson P.E. of Juneau, Alaska ‑ children, Cheryl, Susan and Laurel.

Son ‑ Dr. Dale W. Schaefer of Golden (Albq.) New Mexico, wife Arlene and children Jeannie and Joel.

In remembering the life of George Schaefer, one can hardly avoid acknowledging his many faceted personality. Few who ever met him would not remember him ‑ some with love, some with hate, and some with both.

His difficult early life left and indelible mark. He became a "street fighter" out of necessity and this characteristic never left him. He was suspicious and distrustful of those in authority. He was also generous and dotes over his children and his grandchildren.

George carefully avoided attending church and was not confronted with the Gospel of Christ until he was fifty years of age when he accepted Christ into his life. As a testifying Christian, his actions frequently caused concern to member of his family and the greater family of faith who did not appreciate "from whence he came". As appropriately observed by St. Paul in II Cor. 4:17 " ‑ but we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.".