George Schaefer's Life
(Nov. 13, 1902 ÐFeb. 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.".