Wayne Leo Schrader

April 03, 1932 - December 15, 2020

Wayne Leo Schrader, who passed away at home on December 15, 2020, was always ready for two things: a new adventure and some good-natured competition. Born on April 3rd, 1932 to Walter Schrader and Lillian Oberum, in the middle of the Great Depression in South Bend, Indiana, Wayne learned from his parents and two older sisters, Nadine and Joyce, that hard work and family were the means to a happy life. He never shied away from a new opportunity; after serving in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1951-1953 as a company clerk, he used the GI Bill to attend Indiana University, where he earned a degree in radio and television production and met his future wife, Mary Catherine Bradley.

They met at an IU extension campus, then moved to the main campus, getting to know each other as president and secretary of a college club, then bonding over their shared interest in coffee, theater, and Indiana University basketball. They were married on August 17, 1957. While Mary Catherine taught high school in Battle Creek, Michigan, Wayne opened a Studebaker dealership with two partners, eventually moving to Rockville, MD, to open a new showroom. There, Wayne and Mary Catherine fell in love with the Washington, DC, area, where they would put down roots and raise five children. In 1966, Wayne started his long career with the W. Bell Company, a local catalogue showroom, starting as a buyer and eventually moving into an executive position as the merchandising manager.

That position opened up the potential for travel all over the United States and abroad, from Europe to China, in search of the right goods to stock in W. Bell’s centerpiece showrooms at K and L Streets in Washington, D.C. and beyond. In the late ‘80s, Wayne left W. Bell and went into business with his three sons and daughter-in-law, bringing his sales and marketing expertise to The Cork Street Tavern, a restaurant in Winchester, VA, and BioGreen, a lawncare and sprinkler company that still serves customers all over the D.C. area today. In 1990, Wayne and Mary Catherine moved into their dream home on Lake Holiday, outside of Winchester, where Mary Catherine hosted an annual St. Patrick’s Day party featuring her famous corned beef and cabbage, and Wayne taught a new generation of Schrader kids how to fish, build backyard forts, and cheer for the Redskins, the Nationals, and Indiana basketball.

In 1997, Mary Catherine was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer and passed away a few short months after diagnosis. Wayne also retired, and was left with the question of what to do next. At an adult educational event in Pennsylvania, he found the answer when he met Eva Hauptman of Alexandria, VA, who had also recently lost her husband. He liked to say she asked if he wanted to take a walk in the woods, and the rest was history: he had found a partner ready to share this new, unexpected chapter of life, who was as eager to explore what the world had to offer as he was.

Eva and Wayne traveled extensively, most importantly to Spain, a part of the world Wayne had never seen before that was especially important to Eva, who grew up in a Spanish family in New York City and taught Spanish for many years. They eventually moved to Ashby Ponds in Ashburn, VA, where Wayne was known as an enthusiastic proponent of the card game euchre, recruiting and organizing residents into regular games, and a ferocious bocce ball competitor, eventually winning the fiercely contested bocce championship.

Wayne will be remembered as many things: a wonderful partner, husband, father, and grandfather; a traveler and explorer who never lost sight of how much there was to see in the world; a lover of dogs, from Taffy to Sasha to Brandy; a man with the unparalleled ability to be the first out of a crowded parking lot after a sports event; a person always committed to making sure everyone around him was having fun, from the many participants in raucous Schrader family Christmases to each and every person who joined him for a hand of euchre.

Over the last ten years, Wayne wrote down many of his memories of growing up in northern Indiana, raising his children, and living in the world to share with his family. He ended one of those essays in 2012 by observing that “It has been a wonderful life, and the best is still coming.” It is in that spirit that his family remembers his legacy. Wayne is survived by his partner of 23 years, Eva Hauptman of Ashburn; his sister, Joyce Clark of Venice, FL; his five children, Stephen Schrader of Stephenson, VA, Scott Schrader of Stephenson, VA, David Schrader of Stephens City, VA, Susan Schrader of Woodbine, MD, and Diane Schrader of Calabasas, CA; 12 grandchildren; and 7 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Capital Caring Hospice to honor his memory.

Notes:

Walter Leo Schrader + Lillian Pearl Oberum

• Born during the Depression
• North Liberty Indiana farm
• Lost gas station
• 2 older sisters, Nadine & Joyce, Nadine basically raised him
  • Both were Waves
  • Uncle Pat Bailey, TX hall of fame football coach, served with second Marine division, listening to war correspondents on the radio to mark where he was
• Bought house on Logan Street
• Married up

Born: 04/03/1932 in South Bend, Indiana

• Mary Catherine in Chicago
• Met at Indiana University
  • DJ work
  • Both heavily into theater
  • Montgomery Players in Gaithersburg, lighting and sound
    • Goldie Hawn
  • Radio & Television Production
  • Drafted to Korea in 1951-1952
    • Basic at Fort Sheridan
    • Private to Corporal, company clerk (Radar O’Reilly)
    • Wounded
    • During Queen Elizabeth coronation, there were 500 British soldiers and 100 Americans in a canteen, listening on radio. All the Brits drunk, cheersing, singing God Save the Queen, drunk American yells “God Damn the Queen,” brawl starts, Grandpa jumped up on the bar to get out of the fight, and a guy hit him with a barstool and knocked his teeth out, and was back at the job the next day.
  • GI Bill to Indiana University, 1956

Dad was at Studebaker for 20 years at factory

Working for Studebaker, floor manager until 1962 when changed to Mercedes Benz

Move in 1963 to Silver Spring to open his own showroom for 4 years to sell MB & Studebakers

1. Bell 1966, DC Branch on K Street for several years, L Street

Showroom to offices→ build out to Rockville

Took to Boardman’s catalog showroom in Albany for 2 years

Begged him back to W. Bell to Twin Brook Parkway, commuting for 9.5 months between Albany and Rockville

• Jewelry buyer
• Housewares buyer
• Mens’ & Ladies’ Toiletries
• By 1972: Merchandising Manager→ traveled to China, England, France, all over U.S. to look at different incentives and gifts to be in the catalog and showroom

Cork Street Tavern investment, sold i 1994

BioGreen: officially 1989→ sales & marketing

• EVP of Marketing
• Retired in: 2002

Moved to The Summit in 1990 from Rockville

Mary Catherine died in 1999

Education: Indiana University, Degree, Year

Jobs: Purchasing Manager, W. Bell & Company

Military: U.S. Army, Korean War

Married to Mary Catherine Bradley→ August 17, 1957 (maybe 13)

5 children

4+3+3+1+1

3+3+1

Eve: 2 children

4 grandchildren

Eva Hauptman at Elder Hostel/education

• Partner
• Road Scholar: group arranging trips and mail education
• Recently widowed
• Met in Pennsylvania
• Sister-in-law made her go
• At a convent in PA→ art & theater, with sister- and brother-in-law
• “Is this table taken?”
• Morning singing from nuns→ Grandpa thought he was in the wrong place (wrong kind of chicks)
• Walk in the woods
• Eve: “My lawn is terrible: sand and weeds.” Grandpa to come have a look at it & have lunch
• 23 years→ a second chance at life
• 62 & 64 when met

Enthusiasm for anything

Fan of the Redskins and Nationals, Indiana U basketball, played euchre and bocce champion

Biogreen→ helped establish sales & marketing

• Year established?

Travel: Spain

Fishing, formerly Lake Holiday

Loved suspense novels John Sanford, Lee Child

Corned beef and cabbage

Theater and movies

German

As a buyer for W. Bell, bribes in the form of choice tickets to sporting events (floor seats at the Bullets game)

Leaving a major sporting event professional→ aggressive, cut off the expensive cars→ beating people out of the parking lot

Voted Democrat this year

Eve really wants Grandma & herself mentioned. And obviously children and grandchildren, Indiana University, Korea war veteran, Washington Redskins, nationals, W Bell and Company, bio green, Cork St., Tavern.

I remember a lot of good times as a kid, but I don't really think they were the "good old days" we hear so much about.  It was a much simpler time, people were so much more relaxed, and I think they were happier. The cities and neighborhoods were a lot safer. There was no TV, but there was radio and families had a lot more togetherness maybe because of sitting together listening to the radio, playing games and going on picnics together. Families ate all their meals together and spent most of their free time together, I remember. The best times are the current times.

We eventually moved to Maryland when I was transferred there. I lost my job with Studebaker/Mercedes Benz and went to work at W.Bell & Co. I did a lot of traveling for them, all over the world, visiting eight or nine different countries. I retired from Bells, moved to Virginia and went into business with my sons. A few years later my wife Mary Catherine died. It was hard for me being alone after having so many years together. My family helped me a lot and I moved on.

Now I have a whole new life. My family is grown and I have many grandchildren.  I have met a wonderful woman, Eve. We have traveled a lot together and have seen a lot of new places. That is only part of the story. We have a bond that is very special. I don't know if our families or friends realize how much we mean to each other, but we know. It has been a wonderful life and the best is still coming.

 

01/05/2021 JFC