PAUL SCHROETER
Services for Paul Schroeter, 84, of Norfolk were held May 17, 2010 at Our Savior Lutheran Church with Pastor Lee Weander and Pastor Frank Brink officiating. Soloist was Betty King and the organist was Sallie Pryor. Burial was at Hope Cemetery in Newman Grove with military rites by the Nebraska National Guard Honor Guard and American Legion Post 73. Pallbearers were Zachary Downing, Aaron Downing, Brett King, Matt King, Bob Schroeter, John Johnson, Dan Schroeter and Gus Anderson. Honorary pallbearers were granddaughters, Jennifer Downing, Angie Werner, Audrey Stone, Sheena Tegeler, Ashley King and Sara Wells.
Paul Schroeter was born on June 11, 1925 in Zhitomir, Russia, the fifth child of Gustav and Martha (Leder) Schroeter. He was baptized in the Lutheran faith at a cathedral in Kiev. The family left Russia in 1926 to escape persecution by the Bolsheviks and seek freedom and opportunity in the United States. Due to immigration quotas, the family had to wait in Mexico for three years before being allowed to enter the United States. They traveled to Nebraska and settled on a farm in the Green Garden community of Madison County.
Paul attended St. John's Lutheran School of rural Madison through the eighth grade and was confirmed at St. John's Lutheran Church in 1939. He worked on the family farm with his father and brothers until 1945 when he was called into the service of his country during World War II. He joined the Army serving in the Philippine Islands and Occupied Japan. After completing his military service, he returned to the family farm near Newman Grove where he resumed his farming career.
On March 20, 1949, Paul married his neighborhood sweetheart, Helen Pospisil, at St. John's Lutheran Church. The wedding had to be postponed for two weeks due to one of the many blizzards of the winter of 1948-1949.
Paul and Helen lived on farms near Madison and Enola until purchasing the home place near Newman Grove from Paul's parents in 1957. There they raised their three daughters, Sandra, Pamela and Debra. Paul was a devoted family man and loved farming. In addition to his diversified farming operation, Paul was a seed corn dealer and operated a custom corn-shelling business. He served on the school board of Madison County District 40 and Trinity Lutheran Church Council.
Paul and Helen retired from farming in 1987 and moved to Norfolk in 1995. Due to declining health, he moved to the Homestead Assisted Living Facility in 1999 and Heritage of Bel Air in 2008. It was there he passed away on May 12, 2010 at the age of 84 years and 11 months.
Paul is survived by his devoted wife of 61 years, Helen, of Norfolk; daughters Pam (Keith) King of Newman Grove and Debra (Doug) Linse of Tilden, grandchildren, Zachary (Kim) Downing of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Aaron Downing and fiancee, Katie Bryan, of Bixby, Oklahoma, Jennifer Downing and fiance, Anthony Coblentz, of Stillwater, Oklahoma, Brett King, Ashley King and Matt King all of Newman Grove, Angie (Donny) Werner and Sheena (Joey) Tegeler of Tilden, Audrey Stone of Lincoln and Sara Wells of Aurora, New York; great-grandchildren, Hailey, Kamryn and Bryson Downing of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma; Aiden Downing of Bixby, Oklahoma; Delaney Tegeler, Brianna, Journey and Nathan Werner, all of Tilden, and Mara and Jonah Wells of Aurora, New York; siblings, Ray Schroeter, Clara Johnson and Oscar Schroeter of Newman Grove, Ida Jons of Payson, Arizona and Arnold Schroeter of Spirit Lake, Iowa.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Gustav and Martha Schroeter, brother Otto Schroeter, sisters, Helen Bickley, Irma Sundermann and Betty Mitchell, daughter, Sandra Downing, and son-in-law, Delayne Stone.