My Father
The following is an autobiographical sketch that my father wrote recently for his church newsletter. I do this in his honor, and to mark his death earlier this afternoon.
That's Me! – Bob Shaumeyer
I was born on June 18,1923 in Kansas City, Kansas. My parents were Albert and Rosina Shaumeyer. I was the youngest of six children. I had three brothers and two sisters.
In January, 1925, when I was approximately 11 months old, my father died, leaving my mother to raise six children, the oldest of whom, Albert, was 14 years of age. This was a time when there were no government programs to help those in need. My mother and Albert were determined to keep our family together somehow. So, at the age of 14, Albert took over a paper route delivering papers in the morning before school and in the evening after school. At this time, a paper route was a walking chore. In addition, Albert had to collect subscription money. He continued this until he was 16 years old, a legal age for going to work in a factory. He went to work at a company making cardboard boxes for the packing companies in the Armourdale district. He worked for this company for the rest of his working life. A little later, he was joined at the plant by my next older brother Bill, who also kept working for this company until his retirement.
Then, on top of all these problems, came the great depression. However, through the hard work of my mother and my older brothers and sisters, we never went without something to eat nor did we have to go to the prevalent soup kitchens. I still often reflect upon and take pride in the courage and stamina of my mother through all these challenges. After going to school in Kansas City, Kansas, I, too, went to work at an early age to help out the family. Then came the Japanese attack on Pearl harbor. I entered the Army in January, 1943 and after training in Virginia, the state of Washington and Oklahoma, my Army unit moved to Fort Myles Standish for movement to England in my 1944, just in time to be ready to take part in the invasion of France.
I was a section leader of a demolitions and mine detection section. Our job was to research mines that the German Army was using, for any new methods of mine laying and new types of mines that might appear. We also would "sap" (detect and disarm) booby traps in areas and buildings.
Because of this and just before the end of the war in May, 1945, we were assigned to help liberate the Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich, Germany. And that is a story in itself.
After about a week at Dachau we moved to Mannheim, Germany where I was when the war with Germany ended.
After the end of the war in Europe I was assigned for a period of about six months to the Army of Occupation in Germany. At first we were stationed in the village of Bad Reichenhal, Austria, close to Hitler's mountain top resort, Berchtesgaden. There were thoughts that a die-hard troop of Nazi Storm Troopers might stage a guerrilla attack there. That never happened and we were then moved back to Mannheim. Upon my separation from the Army in January, 1946, I joined the Army Reserve Corps and served there for three years.
In April, 1946 I took employment at the H. D. Lee Garment Plant in Kansas City, Missouri. There, I met my future wife, Cleta, with whom I was immediately stricken and I was determined to make her my wife. Cleta was born and raised on a farm in northwest Missouri. After graduating from high school in 1944 she came to Kansas City to work at the H. D. Lee garment factory which, at the time, was a defense industry making military uniforms. After the war's end it converted back to making jeans and coveralls.
Finally, after three proposals from me, Cleta said, "Yes.", We were married on April 5, 1947 in Maryville, Missouri. To this marriage was born a daughter, Vicki and a son, Jeffrey.
In October, 1949, after being separated from the Army Reserve in January of that year, I joined the Kansas Army National Guard on a part time basis. By this time, Cleta and I had both left the H. D. Lee company. Cleta went to work at a new Sears store on the Country Club Plaza and I
took a job with the local transit company as a streetcar, bus and trolley bus operator. I held this job until October, 1955 when I went with the National Guard on a full time basis, a career I followed until my retirement in June, 1983. At the time of my retirement with the rank of
Command Sergeant Major, I had completed a total of 40 years of military service. I had served through three wars, World War 2, the Korean "conflict" and Vietnam. Although I did not serve overseas in either Korea or Vietnam I was on the alert for such service and for a time during the Viet Nam war, I was stationed in Fort Carson, Colorado.
Cleta and I really enjoyed our thirty plus years at Zion [United Church of Christ, in Kansas City, Kansas] and the many friends we made and the care and concern we have received. During this time I served on the Church Council as vice-president, president, treasurer, and secretary.
On January 21, 2004 my beloved Cleta went to be with her Lord just short of our 57th Anniversary of what I refer to as a "perfect marriage." I was blessed to have her in my life and I miss her greatly.
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on Thursday, 20 December 2007 at 23.16
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Jeff, please accept my sincere sympathy. Your dad sounds like a really fine man; a gilt-edged example of what Tom Brokaw rightly dubbed the greatest generation.
I wish you comfort and consolation in lieu of prayers you might no want. I think it comforting to know someone who has died enjoyed a full, rewarding life and the love of spouse and family.
My paternal grandfather died when my dad was only 4. My grandmother, who had immigrated from Sweden in 1896, had to raise and support a boy and girl in a land still new to her while learning a new language. My dad quit school after the eighth grade to help support the family. Among other jobs he did as a teenager, he had a semi-rural newspaper route — a long one. He was a banker, a mortgage and business loan trust officer and secretary of the New York State Bankers Association when he died at age 59. I was 17 at the time.
I thought you might find the parallels interesting.
on Friday, 21 December 2007 at 22.00
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My condolences.
on Sunday, 23 December 2007 at 15.01
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Jeff, our condolences for your loss.
I lost my father-in-law this October, who was about the same age as your Dad, and he also felt that his service in WWII was a very important part of his life.
on Thursday, 27 December 2007 at 11.46
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Jeff, I never knew you father helped to liberate Dachau. Wow.
God bless.
on Monday, 31 December 2007 at 19.36
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Jeff,
I'm afraid I neglected to tell you how sorry I feel at the loss of your dad. I felt I had gotten to know him a little through Becky and from reading the Zion newsletter. I also felt it connected me to you, even though you had probably forgotten me entirely until I surprised you at Porter's.
Anyway, it was very good to see you again. Like you, there are very few people from WHS '74 whom I wanted to become reacquainted with, but you are definitely at the top of the list. And it was good to meet Isaac too.
Take care.