Thanks for coming to Jeremy's Celebration of Life. I hope you have a good time and spend the day thinking about the fun you had with him.
Jeremy told me countless times that he did not want people to be too sad when the time came for this event. He wanted his family and friends to be glad that he had lived and not depressed or destroyed because he had died.
A little more than six years ago, I wrote and delivered the eulogy for my Dad, Jeremy's Grandfather. I think anyone that was present at my Dad's memorial service would tell you that the eulogy was respectful, accurate and entertaining. Just the way he wanted it to be. Just the way Jeremy wanted his to be as well.
So before I'm done, I am going to tell you some things about Jeremy that you may already know and some that you may not know. Some of these stories may be familiar to you from his memorial site. And I sincerely hope that some of what I say brings a smile to your face.
(cue organ : Dragnet Theme)
Ladies and Gentlemen, the stories you about to hear are true. Nothing has been changed to protect the innocent. (cue organ: Dragnet Theme)
I've always said to that I grew up in a Leave it to Beaver family. My Mom and Dad, were June and Ward. John and I were Wally and the Beaver. It was a great childhood. For some reason, my mother will say that I was more like Eddie Haskell. Jeremy once said to me, “You know how you say you grew up with June and Ward? I kinda think of my childhood as being more like growing up with Aunt Bee and Al Bundy.” He was a master at getting a dig in.
(cue organ) Leave it to Beaver Theme
But Jeremy truly loved his family, Lynda and Jack, his Mother and Dad, his brother Joshua and Grandma and Pap. He also loved the people that he worked with. He loved the Special Olympics and he loved baseball.
Jeremy fought a courageous battle with a very rare form of cancer for about four years. The doctors did not think he would last six months. But he showed them! He was tough and stubborn and refused to quit. Cancer was not going to pull him from the game and force him to be sitting on the bench. It was not in his makeup to give up. He always defied the odds. A smart person would not bet against him to accomplish whatever he set his mind to doing.
People from all over the globe prayed for a miracle. His condition was so rare that there was very little medical help for him. A medical miracle was highly unlikely. But he got his miracle on the second to last day of 2009 when his son Jack was born. That was his miracle. One child born in this world to carry on! It was Jack that helped him beat the doctor's prediction by so much. He was intent on having his son know his daddy. And just like everything else he ever set his mind to, he accomplished that task.
And now, as I said at the beginning, I want to share some of the things about him that you may not know.
Jeremy was very intelligent. He was reading at the 12th grade level by the end of the 3rd grade. He was tested at an early age and his IQ was reported to be 175. He excelled in school without ever working very hard at all. Intellectual things came easy to him. He respected intelligent people and chose them for his friends. If you were smart and an athlete that was even better. One day each week he went to a school for gifted children. And he hated it. He thought the kids were a bunch of snobs and geeks that didn't like sports and did not know how to relax and have fun. Once at the gifted school they were assigned the task of creating a biography of a famous person. They were to do extensive research at the library, scouring through encyclopedias, newspapers and books and to write a detailed account of that person's life. He of course, chose Pittsburgh Pirate slugger Willie Stargell. Naturally, he got an “A” on his report. His extensive research...He got all the facts he needed to create a bio from the back of Willie's baseball card. The teacher didn't have a clue. He would call that working smarter not harder.
My mother, Jeremy's Grandmother, is a very smart person. Even at age 87, she is sharper than a box full of Ginsu Knives. Jeremy always said that she was the second smartest person he knew! Anybody want to guess who he considered to be Numero Uno?
He enjoyed mysteries, Sherlock Holmes, Trivial Pursuit, The Twilight Zone and all things that were funny.
Jeremy loved comedy. He was a big fan of SCTV, Pee Wee Herman and Rodney Dangerfield . He really liked, and this should not surprise anybody, Don Rickles. He was so excited when he called me a few years ago to tell me that Rickles was going to be performing in Melbourne. But his excitement and his desire to get tickets for the show quickly vanished the next day when he read that Joan Rivers was going to be the opening act. He called again to tell me about the show, but he was bummed. He said “Dad, I have to use one of your lines. I'd rather wipe my ass with a cheese grater than sit through a Joan Rivers monologue.” If any of you are hardcore Joan Rivers fans, I sincerely and from the bottom of heart want to say ,why?
Never one to experience stage fright, he even did a stand up comedy routine in an elementary school talent show in front of about 600 people. I imagine that somewhere along the way his quick wit made you laugh too.
While on the topic of humor, I have to admit that sometimes, just like me and his brother, his sense of humor was way out there. I have to share a couple of examples.
Jeremy read that the Amish have a high incidence of polydactylism. That is the condition of having been born with an extra finger. He was intrigued by this and after pondering it awhile, he asked me, “If an Amish baseball player hits a home-run do they give each other high sixes?”
And just in case any of you are thinking that he was always perfectly behaved, this happened when he about 13.
Let me preface this story by telling you that we had just recently watched the Wizard of Oz.
Well, the following Sunday morning we went to church. We went in and found a seat. We happened to sit in a pew directly behind a lady that had no neck. Not just a short stubby neck. She had no neck. You couldn't help but notice.
I'm not kidding, her head was perched right on top of her shoulders. If she had a neck at all it could not have been more than an inch high but I think you'd have better luck finding Jimmy Hoffa than finding her neck.
About halfway through the service, Jeremy started to snicker. I elbowed him to make him knock it off.
When the service was over and we were headed back home in the car, I asked him what the hell he thought was so funny. He said “If that lady in front of us was one of Dorothy's pals in Oz, she'd sing “Oh I would shout and holler and I'd button up my collar, if I only had a neck.”
Good, I'm not the only one that found that funny.
He was smart, stubborn and sometimes very opinionated. These are traits that I have to admit, he probably inherited from me. Except, maybe for the smart part.
When the boys were young, about 10 and 8 years old, I worked at a hotel in Virginia Beach. We often had celebrities stay at the hotel. One time the legendary football star Rosie Greer was a guest. He was in town to make an appearance on the 700 Club TV show. I had the privilege of driving Rosie to the TV studio and spent a couple of hours with him talking religion, sports and family and bragging about my boys. He asked me bring them to the hotel that night so he could meet them. So I took them down to the hotel later that day and we sat around talking and taking photos with Rosie Greer. After conversing for a while, Rosie said to Jeremy “You're pretty smart for such a young man. How did you get to be so smart? Where does that intelligence come from?” I think that Rosie wanted to hear that it was a gift from God. But Jeremy glanced over at me and with a grin told Rosie Greer,”Thank you, I get it from my mother.”
Years later as a college student at James Madison University, he and some buddies were sitting around watching a movie on TV that starred Rosie Greer. It think it was The Thing with Two Heads. Very casually, Jeremy said that he was friends with Rosie Greer. Of course the other guys said that he was full of bull. Jeremy bet them $20 that he could prove it and they took the bet. He called me and said that he needed the photo of him and Josh with Rosie mailed to him right away. I sent it to him. He won the bet and they paid up! The moral of that story is again, simply don't bet against Jeremy.
I am sure he would have made one helluva lawyer but he chose to do his thing with the nursing homes. This was the judicial systems loss and the nursing home's gain. I have met many of the folks that worked with Jeremy and have heard many wonderful things about him as an administrator and a person. It made me proud to hear their compliments. He really made an impact on more lives in his time on this planet than most of us will ever do.
But now, it is time to hear about the Jeremy that I really knew. The real Jeremy. Baseball Jeremy.
His love for the game started when he was about 4 years old. I would throw the ball up in the air to him over and over. High Flies, higher and higher until my arm was numb and then he would still want me to throw some more. And then it became ground balls. Hitting him a hundred or more a day was not uncommon and often not enough to suit him. He loved playing defense. Not a day went by that he didn't throw a tennis ball or golf ball off the steps at the front of the house to practice his fielding. This would go on for hours.
In little league, he played shortstop and he pitched. He had great control and seldom walked a batter. His brother Josh was throwing in the high 80's and struck out a ton of guys but Jeremy did not strike many guys out with his not so blazing 53 mile an hour fastball. Jeremy had the ability to get the batters to hit it right to somebody for an out. He pitched a complete game shutout in an All Star tournament game when he was 15 without striking out or walking a single batter. That is very rare.
He loved everything about the game of baseball except one thing. Umpires! He knew the rule book inside and out. He once told an umpire that the ump made a bad call, a rule book mistake, not just some bad judgment call. The umpire was not happy with that at all and insisted that he was correct. Jeremy politely said to the ump,” If you are right, I will walk off this field and never play again. And if you are wrong, you never umpire another game.” The umpires conferred and of course Jeremy was right. The ump, however, kept on umpiring.
On the last day of his playing career at age 18, he was pitching and the umpire accused Jeremy of licking his fingers like one might do if they were planning to throw an illegal spitball and called Ball One. If a pitcher goes to his mouth and doesn't wipe his hand off on his shirt or pants, the umpire can call a ball even if a pitch hadn't been thrown. He yelled to Jeremy.”Hey, you went to your mouth, can't do that, ball one!” Jeremy thought the ump was full of it. As he got ready to throw the next pitch, Jeremy took the mound, stepped onto the rubber, looked in for the signs from the catcher and proceeded to lick the baseball like an ice cream cone as the spectators from both sides of the field and his teammates and opponents looked on and completely burst out into uncontrollable laughter. Needless to say, he was promptly ejected from the game. That was a good day for him. He pissed off an umpire, got ejected, got a bunch of laughs and we won the ballgame!
He even got tossed from one of his brother Joshua’s Junior High baseball games. He was just a fan watching from the stands and could not help vehemently correcting an umpire’s blown call.
His love for the game continued throughout the rest of his life. Lynda, Jeremy and his lifelong friend James traveled the USA to see baseball and visit any stadium that they had not seen before. He went to more than 160 major and minor league ballparks. Jeremy and Lynda even went to Japan to watch baseball! That is an adventure that he loved and talked about often.
As you now are aware, he was a very intense competitor. But that competitive drive was not confined to baseball. He once threw his arms up into the air and started singing the intro to the Rocky Theme. “Dun, Duh, Da , Da ,Da, Da, Da, Duh, Da.” when he beat Grandma at Scrabble.. He said that was the biggest victory of his life. This is where we refer back to the second smartest person in the world.
He even sat quietly in his room one day and read and memorized all 500 answers to the Trivial Pursuit Genus Edition so he could kick my butt the next time we played. He could read something once and it was locked in forever. One of our friends, one who could never beat him in the game, once said
“ He must have a photogenic memory!”
Well, we've had a long time to think about why this had to happen. We went through the usual “it's not fair” thought process. But we all know that life is not always fair. Some people are smarter than others, some are better looking than others. Some have athletic ability or musical talent while others don’t. Some people have fame and money because they've worked hard for it and deserve it. Some people get rich and famous for no apparent reason. Anybody that has ever seen Jersey Shore can attest to that. I think that what really may be unfair is that we got to know Jeremy and so many others did not. They got the short end of the stick. We were lucky!
I thought that maybe God wanted Jeremy to come on up to the “show” to make sure that the umpires at Heaven's ball field, that Field of Dreams, knew the rules and what they were doing. But then I thought, No Way, No Chance. Jeremy would be the first to tell you that there are NO umpires in heaven.
So I figure that since he never got the chance to play for the Pirates, he just became a free agent and signed with the Angels.
I know I've probably talked too long by now, but I have a few more things that I have to say.
Thank you to Jeremy's mother Betty, who helped me raise two great kids that turned into two world class gentlemen. She helped me teach the boys the beauty of nature. Their mom instilled in them the knowledge that there is true value and satisfaction in self sufficiency. She also taught us all a lot about cooking and let the boys know that “chicks dig men who can cook.”
I want to take a moment to publicly thank Lynda for being his soul mate. I know that he could be a challenge at times and you handled him well. You really made him happy. I know I've said a bunch of words, but I can't find any that would express the magnitude of how much he loved you. Don't ever forget that.
I also want to thank the Harlows, Lou, Kathy, Christina and Steve for all of their help along the way. He respected all of you. Lou, I want to thank you for being there with me in Tampa when we got the news.
To my Mom, John, Alan, Josh and Nakia for your support and understanding when we needed it most. I know from my experience with Jeremy's mother during her battle with cancer how important it is to have something on the horizon. Your visits here, all the way from Pittsburgh, Northern Pennsylvania and Chicago always gave him something to smile about and something to look forward to. You guys had people praying for Jeremy from Nome to Nova Scotia and beyond. He really appreciated that. I can't say enough about how just having you as my family helped me get through this.
'Guffy' McGovern had them in the outfield. George Bailey had Clarence. And we had them right here in our house. I am, of course, talking about Angels. Ours were not Hollywood creations.
It is said that Angels are here to help steer us through the difficulties we encounter by providing insight, awareness, support and encouragement in every situation that is faced in a human's lifetime. This is the very definition of the role the angels played in Jeremy's life. Our Angels were the wonderful ladies from the Hospice of St. Francis right here in Titusville, Florida.
Dawn, Gidget, Debbie, Robin, Janice, Dr. Galfo and the entire hospice staff treated us with compassion and a level of care that far exceeded our expectations. Jeremy was a real person to them not just another patient or a case number.
They were always cheerful and came in with a smile. They took the time to get to know him as a person. There were conversations about cooking, sports and family. It wasn't just all medical talk. At times, it was more like a friend popping in for a visit than an exam. He felt like he was in good hands and important to them. Jeremy always felt a little bit better about the situation after their visits. They never took away his dignity and most importantly, they never took away hope.
These people have what many would consider, a horrible job to do, a job that most all of us could not imagine doing and yet they do it with grace, skill and a smile. It has truly been an honor to get to know each of you.
Please consider Hospice of St. Francis with your charitable donations or when it is time to make your United Way contribution at work.
Thanks to his buddies Mark, James, Randy, Barry and Paul and the guys in the band. And to all the folks at the various nursing homes, thank you.
Everyone here did something helpful and meaningful for Jeremy during his life and he probably did something nice for you. You wouldn't be here if that was not the case. We thank you all.
One friend that went far beyond the call of duty is Josh Kellogg. He and Jeremy were friends on their first T-Ball team and stayed friends for the next 30 some years. I won't list everything Josh has done for Jeremy because I know he isn't one to flaunt his generosity but I want you all to know that he is one extra-special guy. Thank you for your concern for Jeremy, Lynda and Jack and for your service to our country. I salute you.
When we moved here in 2010 to do whatever we could to lend a hand to Lynda and Jeremy, our neighbors made us feel welcome from the minute we got here. They brought welcoming gifts of food and goodies, watched the house for us when we had to make trips back to Virginia, helped with yard work and said a thousand prayers for Jeremy. Ron, our neighbor provided the chairs for this event. It didn't take long for me to realize that Titusville is more like Mayberry than Miami. Thanks Ron. Thank you all.
And to my wife Pam, Jeremy's Stepmother, I owe you a huge thank you. My simple words here are not sufficient. Without your generosity, unselfishness and love for Jeremy and the entire Schuchert family, I would not have been able to move down here from Virginia to have these extra couple of years with my son. Thank You.
For everyone that helped make his time on earth a little bit better during this awful illness and before, thank you. Have no regrets. Like they say in Sweet Home Alabama, “We all did what we could do.”
Now if anyone else would like to add anything come on up.......
Accompanying me is my brother Jeremy's Uncle John on the keyboard, and his brother Josh on the bass guitar.
And now, please join in the singing of Jeremy's favorite hymn.
(cue organ)
“Let me hear ya. A one, a two:
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack.
I don't care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win, it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game.
And remember the rule, There's no crying in baseball!
