George Edward Schumacher

George Edward Schumacher was born July 9, 1930 in Dubuque, Iowa and died May 30, 2011 at Bethany Manor in Story City, Iowa at the age of 80. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 am Saturday, June 4, 2011 at Hachmann Funeral Home & Cremation Service in Bellevue, Visitation for George will be held from 9:00 until 11:00 Saturday morning at the funeral home prior to the service. He was the oldest of four children born to Helen Blanche Rhodes Schumacher and George Emil Schumacher and grew up in Dubuque where he attended Dubuque Senior High School and graduated in 1948. He then attended Iowa State University for two years and returned to Dubuque to work. On June 14, 1953 he married Irma Lillian Hueneke at St. Johns Lutheran Church at St. Donatus, Iowa. To this union four children were born. In 1954 George and Irma moved to Waukon, Iowa where he operated a dairy and swine farm owned by his father. When his father decided to sell the farm in 1957, George and his family moved to Cresco, Iowa. George and Irma had an opportunity to purchase a farm near Cresco in 1962 where they lived until the fall of 2010. It was Georges goal to raise registered Angus cattle and he was proud to have sold breeding and commercial cattle into seven states. He was an active member of the Northeast Iowa Angus Association and managed their annual sale in Elkader, Iowa and served on the board of directors. In 1983 he was honored for his 26 years of service to that association. During the years they lived on the farm, George also worked as a contract crop adjuster and as a technician for the Soil Conservation Services. In 1971 he and Irma purchased the Farm Discount Store in Cresco where they sold feed, seed, and animal health supplies for 20 years. After he sold the store, he went to work for Rain & Hail Insurance Service, Inc. out of Des Moines, Iowa where he worked for over 25 years as a crop adjuster. In 1996, Rain & Hail recognized him as Adjuster of the Year for the state of Iowa. George was proud to have worked steadily until age 78. George was an active member of the community being a life-time member of the Masonic Lodge and was recognized as a 50 year member in 2001. He also served on the Howard County Fair Board where he was the Beef Cattle Superintendent for 20 years. His lifes passion was in hunting and fishing. He spent his spare time fly tying, jig making, and building custom fishing rods. George made many trips to Ft. Smith, Montana for his annual fly fishing trip and caught lots of brown and rainbow trout in the Little Big Horn River. He liked fishing of any kind and also enjoyed teaching his grandchildren, nieces and nephews how to be fly fishermen. He also made several trips west in his lifetime to Wyoming for antelope and deer hunting. He was an avid pheasant and deer hunter in northeast Iowa, and raised and trained Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and Brittany Spaniels for hunting purposes. George is survived by his wife of 58 years, Irma; four children including daughter Becky and husband Arlen Sawyer of Bassett, Neb., son Mark and wife Susan of Wolsey, S.Dak., daughter Mitzi Schumacher of Lexington, Ky., and daughter Jo Schumacher and friend Chad Cook of Ames, Iowa; five grandchildren including Jessica and Adam Sawyer, Nathan and Kelli Jo Schumacher, and Jake Arrowsmith; one sister Jean and husband Jim Bell of Hartford, Wisc., one brother, Bob Schumacher and wife Linda of Medina, Ohio, sister-in-law Marilyn Schumacher of Beloit, Wisc., brother-in-law Aaron and wife Jean Hueneke of Bellvue, Iowa, sister-in-law Mildred and husband Cletus Davis of Dubuque, Iowa; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Bill Schumacher. Memorials may be directed to St. Johns Lutheran Church St. Donatus, Iowa and Homeward Hospice.