Dad was never one to let facts get in the way of a good story so I was reasonably shocked at how this one turned out.

The East Leyden Eagles had a very talented and highly recruited basketball player by the name of Glen Grunwald. Dad would be contantly dropping names of college coaches like Bobby Knight while recruiting Glenn, coming to Leyden and shagging tennis balls for he and the basketball coach Norm Goodman during their daily tennis matches at noon. OK dad, great story but who really believed it.

At least 10 years later in Bloomington Indiana (we were there for an Indiana-Illini game). We walk into a steakhouse for dinner and this burly gentleman grabs dad and says "is that you Ralph?  Are you still playing tennis everyday?" That man was Joe B Hall the legendary coach at Kentucky at the time. Made me reconsider some of the other tall tales dad was prone to.

With heavy hearts we extend our deepest condolences to Donna and family of Ralph Schuler who passed away on July 13, 2021.

The first time Donald and Ralph met was at Barrie field in Oak Park when Ralph’s son Steven and our son Jim joined the same baseball (T-ball?) team. Ralph and Don became instant friends when they both mentioned graduating from DePaul University and were also White Sox fans.

There is no doubt that Ralph was a true scholar. We went to Ireland with Ralph and Donna in 2001 and were amazed at all the books he was carrying when we met them at the airport. We are enclosing a picture of Don and Ralph at the Bunratty Inn, in County Cork.

We have many wonderful memories that lighten our days now that we are old folks. One of my fondest is when Ralph and Donna bicycled to our house and he yelled from the driveway, “Yo, Donnie and Rosie, can you come out and play?” We invited them to our back yard and spent the whole day together. It was a wonderful time and we will cherrish all the memories we’ve shared through the years.

I am so grateful to have met Mr. Schuler. My sister and Irented Donna and Ralph’s house in Nags Head for many years. Their love of North Carolina and the ocean became our love. I could see and feel that family was most important to Ralph and what a loving family he and Donna created. 

I am so sorry for all of our losses. Ralph Schuler will forever have a special place in my heart.