Major Richard "Dick" Charles Schaefer
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Richard, known as Dick, was born in 1933 in Brooklyn, NY to George J. Schaefer and Margaret Crown Schaefer. He was the second of three sons, George Jr. being his older brother, and Thomas J. being his younger brother. His brother, George Jr., remembered that Dick was the most athletic of the three brothers, and that he loved swimming at Gerritsen Beach in the summers.
Dick graduated from Brooklyn Tech High School in 1951, and soon thereafter, he enlisted in the US Air Force. While training at Lowry AFB in Denver, CO, Dick met Helen Gillespie, a native of Michigan. They traveled to Brooklyn to be married on 28 December 1952 at the Resurrection Roman Catholic Church on Gerritsen Ave. in Brooklyn. They returned to live in Denver while Dick continued his training.
Dick was then sent overseas in 1954 where he was stationed at Kimpo AFB in Seoul, Korea for a year. Upon his return to the US, he was stationed at Grandview AFB outside Kansas City, and then McClellan AFB in Sacramento where his first daughter was born. In 1958, Dick and Helen moved to Lackland AFB in San Antonio where he attended Officer Candidate School. Dick graduated third in a class of 210 with the rank of Second Lieutenant.
From 1959-1963, Dick was stationed at Dow AFB in Bangor, Maine where his next two children were born. He worked with Air to Ground and Air Defense Missiles, a job that subsequently lead him and his family to Seymour Johnson AFB, Goldsboro, NC, Offutt AFB, Omaha, NE, and Beale AFB in Yuba City, CA. While stationed in NE, Dick received his college degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha with a major in history and minor in math. While stationed in CA, he was assigned temporary duty in Okinawa in support of the SR-71 during the Viet Nam War.
Dick and Helen divorced in 1969. Reassigned again to Offutt AFB in Omaha, Dick remarried briefly to Ingrid Ruth. After his retirement as a Major in the Air Force in 1973, Dick moved to Ft. Worth, TX for a few years, and then to Pinnelas County, Florida to be near his parents who had relocated there from New Jersey. There he met another single parent, Ellen Kirchner Norton. They were married September 1978.
In 1983, Dick and Ellen followed their dream of living in the country. They had a cabin built atop a mountain outside of Waynesville, NC, where they lived with several dogs and enjoyed the peaceful country life. But maintaining the cabin was alot of work as they were getting older, so they returned to Florida to settle in Palm Harbor. Dick worked part-time, and became an active volunteer at the Palm Harbor United Methodist Church as well as with Air Force veteran organizations. Dick and Ellen traveled annually to visit family but also to explore new places through elder hostel programs. They both loved family and friends, being in service, and exploring, learning and enjoying everything they could of life.
Even though active and healthy, Dick inherited heart problems. He had a heart surgery in 2001, and thereafter had a pacemaker. He had also been diagnosed with early onset of Alzheimer's Disease. But through it all, Dick maintained a positive and loving disposition. He was visiting family in Vermont when his heart failed him. He was 76 years old.
Dick was given a military burial at Florida National Cemetery. He was survived by his brother, George, his wife, Ellen, his three children, Mary Ann (Clara), Matthew (Holly), and Paula (Andy), four stepchildren Ken (Jane), Kathleen (Tim), Kristine, and Kurtis (Sharon); ten grandchildren; four great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces & nephews.
A memorial bench for Richard C. Schaefer was installed at Honeymoon Island State Park, a place where he loved to watch sunsets.