Obituary of Alvin L. Schroeder

Alvin "Al" Schroeder, 87, longtime resident of Iowa City, died Wednesday, August 19, 2015, at the Briarwood Health Care Center in Iowa City. Alvin L. Schroeder was born February 12, 1928, in Preston, Iowa, the son of Emil and Emma (Shidler) Schroeder. The family lived in Algona, and then on a farm outside of Whittemore, Iowa where Al graduated from high school in 1947. After working on the family farm for a few years, Al enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1952 during the Korean Conflict. He specialized as a field artillery gunner and spent the last year of his service as a member of an anti-aircraft battery unit located on Lower Manhattan Island whose job was to protect New York City from enemy attacks. While there, he called his pen-pal sweetheart and fiancé, Shirley Conley of Cherokee, IA and asked her to marry him and come to New York City, which she did. They were married on April 13, 1953, in Algona, IA and lived the next year in Bayonne, NJ while Al completed his military service. After Al's honorable discharge from the Army in 1954, he and Shirley moved back to Iowa where they resided in Marshalltown for several years where Al was employed by the Iowa Veterans Home. After moving to Iowa City in 1963, Al attended the University of Iowa from 1974-1977 when he received a liberal arts degree in General Studies (with emphasis on American History and Religion). He held a variety of jobs in the Iowa City area over the next several year, including employment by the UIHC, National Park Service in West Branch and the Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources. Al became well-known over the years in the Iowa City community for his great sense of humor and his ability to make people laugh and look at the positive things in life. He particiculary loved children and enjoyed being Santa Claus or St. Nicholas every year while distributing candy after the Children's Christmas program at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Al and Shirley had joined Gloria Dei shortly after they moved to Iowa City in 1963. Al had taken a keen interest in American History and did thorough research on specific subjects which interested him, Shirley made all of Al's colorful costumes and his friends will remember him for the many characters he often portrayed (clowns, Dracula the Vampire, Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, St. Patrick, Civil War characters, frontier minister, French Voyager/ fur trapper, American Hobo, Mark Twain, and others). For several years he and Shirley participated in many Civil War reenactments around Iowa, (Al has given all of his Civil War Uniforms and time-period mementoes to the Hoover Library in West Branch). He frequently entertained the residents of Ecumenical Towers with his portrayals of Mark Twain and his history lessons on the American Hobo, the Civil War, Amelia Earhart, etc. Al also took great pride in his German family heritage and loved to visit the Amana Colonies during the Mayfest and Octoberfest celebrations wearing his colorful German Lederhosen and Alpine hat! Al and Shirley were well-known and well-liked by the residents of Ecumenical Towers where they resided for the past several years. As Al has no immediate family members, the members of Gloria Dei Lutheran Church have been "looking after" Al's welfare since Shirley's death in April 2014. Al's health continued to decline until he moved into Briarwood Health Care Center in December 2014. Here he received excellent loving care until his death, Essence of Life Hospice also assisted in Al's care during his last few months. Al greatly appreciated everything they did to improve the quality of his life. A Memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, September 30, 2015, at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Iowa City. Al will be interred at the Memory Gardens Mausoleum along with his wife, Shirley. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made in his memory to Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Online condolences may be sent through the web @ www.gayandciha.com. Gay & Ciha Funeral and Cremation Service is caring for Al's arrangements.