Obituary for Donald Frederick Schroeder
Donald Frederick Schroeder, known to all as “Bob,” passed away peacefully, on April 3, 2020 at the age of 97, at the Augsburg Assisted Living facility, where he had been a resident for almost three years.
Bob was born on September 1, 1922 in Baltimore, the beloved son of Henry and Catherine (Meinschein) Schroeder, and the beloved brother of Allan Schroeder, all who preceded him in death.
As a child of The Great Depression, Bob had to quit school in the 8th grade to work and assist in providing for his family. Beginning in 1940, he worked for the Glenn L. Martin Company and trained as a machinist for four years, before joining the United States Army in 1944, during WWII. He served as a Staff Sergeant in the 406th Infantry, of the 102nd Infantry Division in the European Theater of Operations. He fought on the front lines in Germany, and recalled stories of living in a foxhole for 2 weeks straight during Germany’s record cold winter of 1944. He received what he said was called a “million dollar wound,” a minor shrapnel wound that landed him in a hospital in England, for what would be the remainder of the War. Upon travel home, Bob’s plane would lose one engine and all onboard prepared to “ditch” in the ocean, but they miraculously made it to Newfoundland and landed safely.
Back home in 1946, Bob married his wife of 60 years, Ollie Lee (Scott) Schroeder, and raised two children. His greatest joy at work was running a one-man machine shop at the University of Maryland Hospital’s Department of Radiology, where he worked directly with early “radiotherapy” physicians and researchers, developing one of the first radiation treatment machines, the “Beta-tron.” His work was credited in a scholarly journal publication, by an appreciative physician mentor. Not bad for a man with an 8th grade education!
From his granddaughter Megan’s online tribute: “He was given nothing. Everything he worked for and earned, he shared. He never asked or expected anything from anyone. He was overly thankful for even the smallest things. He was a living example of the values he taught us: hard work, perseverance, generosity, gratefulness and simplicity.”
Bob was a skilled machinist and gifted tradesman of all sorts; doing car repairs, carpentry and home renovations, and he loved the outdoors; felling trees and cutting firewood, and tending to his gardens. MOST of all, Bob was a devoted and faithful husband and father, and valued the simple life of working and caring for family and home, and neighborhood. He once sang in barbershop quartets, and loved music, gatherings with lifelong family friends, laughter and great story-telling!
He is survived by both of his children, Donald Schroeder, Jr. of Pikesville, MD and Carol Schroeder of Randallstown, MD, as well as by his beloved grandchildren, Nicholas Burris and wife Heather, of Ann Arbor, MI, and Megan Burris of Baltimore, MD.
Family will hold a memorial service in the future. A private burial is scheduled at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery, Owings Mills, MD on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 where Donald will be buried along side his beloved wife.
Bob was born on September 1, 1922 in Baltimore, the beloved son of Henry and Catherine (Meinschein) Schroeder, and the beloved brother of Allan Schroeder, all who preceded him in death.
As a child of The Great Depression, Bob had to quit school in the 8th grade to work and assist in providing for his family. Beginning in 1940, he worked for the Glenn L. Martin Company and trained as a machinist for four years, before joining the United States Army in 1944, during WWII. He served as a Staff Sergeant in the 406th Infantry, of the 102nd Infantry Division in the European Theater of Operations. He fought on the front lines in Germany, and recalled stories of living in a foxhole for 2 weeks straight during Germany’s record cold winter of 1944. He received what he said was called a “million dollar wound,” a minor shrapnel wound that landed him in a hospital in England, for what would be the remainder of the War. Upon travel home, Bob’s plane would lose one engine and all onboard prepared to “ditch” in the ocean, but they miraculously made it to Newfoundland and landed safely.
Back home in 1946, Bob married his wife of 60 years, Ollie Lee (Scott) Schroeder, and raised two children. His greatest joy at work was running a one-man machine shop at the University of Maryland Hospital’s Department of Radiology, where he worked directly with early “radiotherapy” physicians and researchers, developing one of the first radiation treatment machines, the “Beta-tron.” His work was credited in a scholarly journal publication, by an appreciative physician mentor. Not bad for a man with an 8th grade education!
From his granddaughter Megan’s online tribute: “He was given nothing. Everything he worked for and earned, he shared. He never asked or expected anything from anyone. He was overly thankful for even the smallest things. He was a living example of the values he taught us: hard work, perseverance, generosity, gratefulness and simplicity.”
Bob was a skilled machinist and gifted tradesman of all sorts; doing car repairs, carpentry and home renovations, and he loved the outdoors; felling trees and cutting firewood, and tending to his gardens. MOST of all, Bob was a devoted and faithful husband and father, and valued the simple life of working and caring for family and home, and neighborhood. He once sang in barbershop quartets, and loved music, gatherings with lifelong family friends, laughter and great story-telling!
He is survived by both of his children, Donald Schroeder, Jr. of Pikesville, MD and Carol Schroeder of Randallstown, MD, as well as by his beloved grandchildren, Nicholas Burris and wife Heather, of Ann Arbor, MI, and Megan Burris of Baltimore, MD.
Family will hold a memorial service in the future. A private burial is scheduled at Garrison Forest Veterans Cemetery, Owings Mills, MD on Wednesday, April 15, 2020 where Donald will be buried along side his beloved wife.