Remembering Eddie Schumacher

Earlier this month the late Eddie Schumacher was among those accorded a memorial tribute by Elks, relatives and friends at an Elks Lodge program. Edmund John Schumacher died in Polson Oct. 6, 2013. He was born in Circle on July 10, 1916, to John and Maggie Schumacher. The family moved to Polson in 1925.

In his younger years he worked as the boiler fireman on the last of three versions of the lake steamer Klondike on Flathead Lake. Eddie also played guitar in a dance band that played in many places in the western states. He met Grace Hoosier at a dance and they were married on April 3, 1936. He and Gracie celebrated 77 years of marriage.

He was drafted out of Lake County during World War II and served in an artillery unit in the South Pacific. After his discharge in 1945 he returned to Montana and was employed in the lumber industry until his retirement.

When we moved here in 1959 we became acquainted with the Schumachers who operated a small “Stop and Go” drive-in at the corner of Seventh and Main, across from Leonard Newgard’s gas station. Mary Lou and I and our small son, Alan, rented the house that now is the Berg and Devries CPA office at 405 First St. W., next door to the Cottage Hotel, now called the Uptown Apartments. Often after dinner, we’d take ice cream drives to the Schumachers’ drive-in.

In recent years I became reacquainted with Eddie and Gracie at cardio rehab sessions at St. Joseph Hospital. Especially enjoyable were the couple’s sense of humor and their dedication to each other. I was unable to attend the service last week, but I felt honored to attend their 75th wedding anniversary. They were truly a special couple. Gracie survives Eddie, as do several grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Preceding him in death were four brothers and four sisters.

Memorial donations may be sent to the Mission Valley Humane Society, 36251 No. Reservoir Rd., Polson.