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1 Sharon E. Schaffer Wheeler Born May 26, 1940 Based on interviews conducted 10/24/ 2012 and beyond By Susan Parsons It was only four days before Decoration Day, May 26, 1940. Many Fair Haven and Sterling residents were preparing the graves of their loved-ones for the Decoration Day commemoration, the day when, in the past, the war dead from the Civil War and “The Great War” were honored. Increasingly, graves of all family members were cleaned, trimmed and decorated with flowers in time for the May 30th observance. It was not a Monday holiday then. A few people were calling it Memorial Day but this was not really a common practice until after World War II. Sharon Schaffer’s parents were not decorating graves on May, 26, 1940; they were having their first baby. Sharon E. Schaffer was born at Oswego Hospital on May 26. Soon she arrived home to live upstairs in the home of her great grandmother, Minnie Bradley. In 1944, Sharon’s brother, Paul was born and came home to the same homestead. On her maternal side, some of Sharon Wheeler’s family members have lived in the Fair Haven- Sterling area for at least one-hundred-fifty years. Her mother, Geraldine Paula Bradley Schaffer Powell (1921-2003), was born in Oswego, NY. She lived on Lake Street, Fair Haven for most of her life, much of the time in the family homestead. Seven generations of Sharon’s immediate family have occupied that home. Now Sharon’s granddaughter, Kelly Blomberg Teeter and family, including Sharon’s great grandson, David, live there. Brief Maternal Genealogy Emma Moak Randolph Schaffer Minnie Moak Bradley John Moak Sharon Schaffer Geraldine Schaffer Kenneth Bradley George Bradley Mildred Smith Folts Bradley James Smith Florence Smith ---PAGE BREAK--- 2 Emma Jacobs Moak (1844-1903) and John Moak (1840-1903), Sharon’s great, great grandparents, lived on the east side of Lake Street, Fair Haven, in the Robert Matthews house they bought in 1893. They purchased the home from Charles Howland. The couple had been married in 1890. John was a carpenter and also worked for the Lehigh Valley Railroad as a bridge inspector among other jobs. Emma and John Moak are buried at Springbrook Cemetery. Their daughter, Minnie Moak (1868-1952) married George Bradley 1948) who later became an engineer on the Lehigh Valley Railroad. Minnie played the piano for the Presbyterian Church and sometimes the old Methodist Church in Fair Haven. They had a daughter, Florence, (1892- 1927) whom Sharon believes had diabetes and difficulties walking. She died at the young age of 35. George and Minnie Bradley also had a son, Kenneth Bradley, Sharon’s grandfather. All are buried at Springbrook Cemetery. Sunday School class: Minnie Moak Bradley, Sharon’s great grandmother, standing, fifth from right; Belle Sant, seated, left ---PAGE BREAK--- 3 Geraldine’s father, Sharon’s grandfather, Kenneth Bradley (1894-1962) was a drummer in the Fair Haven Band for 44 years. He had been a member of the Odd Fellows (IOOF) and the American Legion. He was a veteran of World War I, and was severely wounded by mustard gas. Citizens’ Band Concert at Corner of Main and Lake Streets, Kenneth Bradley on drums, probably mid 1930’s He is buried at Springbrook Cemetery. Geraldine’s mother, Sharon’s grandmother, Mildred Smith Folts Bradley (1900-1971) was an only child, probably born in Sterling. Her parents were Florence Marsh Smith (1881-1954) and James Smith (1878-1942). The 1910 census shows James as being a highway laborer and in 1920 a paper hanger. Florence was a paper hanger as well. The family lived on Center Road, Sterling Center. Sharon remembers that James had lost a part of one arm. Both are buried at Sterling Center Cemetery. Their daughter, Mildred, married Leroy Folts from Herkimer, who became a casualty of World War I. He was probably drafted. He was also a victim of mustard gas and was hospitalized in France. Around the time his son, Theodore (1918-1962), was born, Leroy was traveling home aboard ship after the War ---PAGE BREAK--- 4 was over. He died of pneumonia while at sea. Mildred received the dreaded telegram informing her of his passing. Later, Sharon can remember going with her Grandmother Mildred and Uncle Theodore to Herkimer to put flowers on Leroy’s grave for Decoration Day. After Leroy died, Mildred and Theodore for a time lived with her parents on Center Road in Sterling ---PAGE BREAK--- 5 Mr.Leroy and Mrs. Mildred Smith Folts, before Leroy shipped out ---PAGE BREAK--- 6 Mildred Smith Folts with her son, Theodore, after the death of her husband ---PAGE BREAK--- 7 Center. At that time Ken Bradley was driving a bus on a route, probably to Oswego. Mildred would take the bus and a relationship developed between Mildred and Ken. They married in 1920 and Ken raised Theo as his own. Kenneth and Mildred bought the S. G. Brown house on Lake Street, Fair Haven. Kenneth later helped at the Fair Haven Lighthouse while Osgar Elmer, lightkeeper, was on vacation, but because Ken had been mustard gassed, he had an enlarged heart and as such was limited in the work he could do. Mildred worked at Timco Canning Company in Fair Haven and also did professional crocheting for a business in New York City. Sharon’s Uncle Theo worked for Bob Hill and played the clarinet in the band. Sharon says that Virginia Westerman of Red Creek always said that Theo was the best dancer in the area! ---PAGE BREAK--- 8 Theo Folts in World War II Uniform ---PAGE BREAK--- 9 Ken Bradley and Theo Folts (holding clarinet) Sharon remembers that he did a lot for her family. Geraldine was born in 1921 to Ken and Mildred Bradley. There were no other children besides Theo. (All are buried at Springbrook.) ---PAGE BREAK--- 10 Postcard to Sharon’s parents and Sharon; note the seal and sign that the card had been censored by the Army After Geraldine married and had two children of her own, her home became a place where kids congregated and where those kids say she treated them wonderfully. Geraldine worked at some of her husband’s restaurants that were located in Fair Haven. Later, she worked cleaning and waitressing at the Pleasant Beach for Hermann and Jean Grieger. When Sharon was an adult her parents divorced and each remarried. Geraldine died in 2003 and is buried at Springbrook. Jesse Dennison, Fair Haven’s first African-American resident, wounded Civil War veteran and GAR member, by 1877 was employed in a Fair Haven brickyard. He died of “military tuberculosis” in 1894 and is buried at Springbrook, very near the graves of several of Sharon’s ancestors. Sharon said the family story was that her great grandmother, Minnie Bradley, gave Jesse a gravesite near their plot. Jesse’s wife is buried next to him. Jesse was a pauper when he died; his grave was supplied with a military headstone because of his veteran status. His wife has no grave marker. Brief Paternal Genealogy ---PAGE BREAK--- 11 Sharon Schaffer Geraldine Schaffer Randolph Schaffer William Wilder Schaffer Elizabeth Nettles Schaffer Sharon’s Father Sharon’s father, Leonard Randolph Schaffer (1919-1971) was born in South Carolina, to his parents, William Wilder Schaffer (1876-1942) and Elizabeth Nettles (1876-1943). Both of Randolph’s parents are buried in the South. Randolph had rheumatic fever as a child, resulting in heart damage and making him ineligible for the military. So, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and ended up working at Fair Haven State Park as a cook. Warren Simmons always said he was a great cook. He met Geraldine and they were married in 1938, he at 19 and she at 17. Randolph, also known as “Ran” or “Skiball,” was a colorful gentleman who was very friendly and generous. They moved into the homestead on Lake Street that was occupied by Sharon’s great grandmother, Minnie Bradley. Sharon recalls that Minnie belonged to the Women’s Christian Temperance Union so her father was not allowed to have any “intoxicating drink” in the house. Ran became a welder and pipe fitter and worked construction, for example, at the sugar beet plant at Montezuma. In his younger years he also ran several restaurants. The first one that Sharon knows of was located in Auburn. She recalls that in that restaurant was a device that a person would talk into and it would play the records the person requested. Ran was running this restaurant when World War II ended. He also leased spaces in Fair Haven to run restaurants. The first one was located on the west end of Main Street and Fancher Avenue. Sharon believes that one was named “Schaffer’s Restaurant.” One was where O’Connor’s Pub is located today. He ran that restaurant with John Rossiter. One of Sharon’s first jobs was in that restaurant. Another was in the east end of the Mendel Block. It was known as the New York Restaurant. Ran also continued his welder/pipe fitter job. He died in 1971 and is buried in the South. ---PAGE BREAK--- 12 Geraldine Bradley, Randolph Schaffer, Marie Kachurak and Jimmy Erb ---PAGE BREAK--- 13 Mr. and Mrs. Randolph Schaffer ---PAGE BREAK--- 14 Geraldine Schaffer and her baby, Sharon Sharon’s Childhood One of Sharon’s earliest memories was that her mom took her to get a haircut at the barbershop. She thinks she must have wiggled around because her ear got clipped and it bled. She got her first permanent wave from Mrs. Demarest, whose shop was on the corner of Hume and Lake Streets, across from Lena Hilton’s home. She thinks she was hooked up to a machine that would curl her hair. ---PAGE BREAK--- 15 Permanent Wave Machine (Wisconsin Historical Museum) ---PAGE BREAK--- 16 Sharon and Paul Schaffer Since Sharon’s family lived in an upstairs apartment at her great grandparents’ home, she can recall looking out the front window and seeing soldiers from the POW Camp at the State Park parading down Lake Street toward downtown. They must have been exercising, Sharon later thought. They were not wearing prison uniforms. Sharon could not been more than about five years old then. Some of the oldest people Sharon remembers were friends of her great grandmother, such as Lucy Hill (Bob Hill’s mother), Anna Gravely, Pearl Mendel, and Belle Sant. She recalls seeing Bob Hill “barreling” out of his driveway with his mother, Lucy, beside him. In the fall, Sharon would ask Bob if she could have some of his dark blue concord grapes. Bob insistently bellowed that they were NOT concord grapes but WINTHROP grapes. She remembers that Bob would give out fudge at Halloween and Christmas. Of course, he entertained children with his piano playing when they went there trick-or-treating. Sharon remembers other neighbors of the day ---PAGE BREAK--- 17 on her side of the street: Percy Yarrow and Catherine Bailey, Joe Van Pelt whose house was later torn down, Lester and Florence Butler, Gordon Rose, and Ellen and Eldon Mead, after Dick Demarest moved. In that house Bill and Annie Covert lived upstairs when Sharon was young. Across the road from her, on the east side of Lake Street, lived George and Ann Crowe, and Duncan and Eliza Campbell. Mr. Campbell was a bee keeper. She remembered fondly that the Campbell’s were the first ones in the area to put electric lights on an outside Christmas tree, delighting all the children on the street. Other neighbors to the north were John and Eleanor Bonner, Oscar and Vieta LaDue and Tom and Beulah Leonard. Toward the south lived Burt Beshures who sold coal and had a farm on Lake Street. Burt kept cows there. Sharon said that neighbor kids went over to Burt’s backyard farm and gave the cows green apples. The cows loved them but the apples ruined their milk. Other neighbors on the east side of Lake Street were George and Reen Butler who owned the cobblestone house and Bob Hill. Behind the houses to the east were the railroad tracks that had once moved coal trains to North Fair Haven and now delivered coal to the Turner Brothers Coal business. Sharon and other children would place pennies on the tracks and the trains would flatten them into shiny, coppery, odd shaped blobs. Sharon’s family used to go to the West Side of the bay for picnics in the summer. After all, it cost fifty cents to get into the State Park, but the West Side was free! Mrs. Lucy Hill’s birthday party; Minnie Bradley, second from left, Lucy at center ---PAGE BREAK--- 18 Toys, Games, Activities Sharon had a few toys as a child. One was a wooden doll house with little furniture. She also had a doll with a cloth body and a voice box that said “mama” as she tipped it. Sharon said her brother “took the mama out.” A small playhouse was located in her backyard that made for fun play. As she grew, Sharon had a tom tom, roller skates and a bicycle. She would roller skate to the school to skate on the sidewalk, to swing on the school swings, or to play hopscotch on the angled sidewalk in front of the bell tower. She believes she used a piece of coal to mark a hopscotch grid on the sidewalk. She did the same in front of her house. Later, Sharon would ride her bike down her street where, in this close-knit neighborhood, the neighbors would wave as neighborhood children rode by. Sharon would ride her bike to school and to Lena Hilton’s house on the corner of Lake and Hume Streets. When she reached her teen years, Sharon would go to the band concerts in the summer on Saturday nights because “that’s where the boys were.” ---PAGE BREAK--- 19 Sharon in her Easter bonnet ---PAGE BREAK--- 20 When Sharon was very young, her family shopped for food at Bradley’s Meat Market and Thompson’s (later Harold Wallace’s). The Bradley family that ran the meat market, William and Mabel were relatives of Sharon. Their daughter Reba, married Lawrence Turner, who was an owner of Turner Brother’s Coal business. This company was located near where Guiseppi’s is located today. The Schaffers bought Sharon Hurd shoes at the Mendel Shoe Store located in the Mendel Block. Sharon remembers that Mr. Mendel also sold comic books. Hurd shoe (courtesy Metropolitan Museum of Art) Sharon’s first trip away from home was by automobile to visit her father’s family in South Carolina. After sixth grade, Sharon and her family moved to Yemessee, near Paris Island, SC for about six months. During this time her father was at work helping to build the Savannah River Nuclear Power Plant. George and Pearl McIntyre got a television so Sharon went to their house to watch I Remember Mama. It became her favorite show when her family got their first TV. Once in a great while Sharon got to go to the Palace Theater in Wolcott to see a movie. It was a huge deal, she said. Her mother, once in a while in the summer, took Sharon and her brother, Paul to the drive-in theater in Minetto. School Days Sharon began school in Fair Haven with Mrs. Wright for first grade. Mrs. Dorothy King was her second and third grade teacher. Mrs. Hazel Fralick taught her fourth grade. Ms. Bessie Green was her fifth grade teacher and her sixth grade teacher was Mrs. Ellen Mead. She was in South ---PAGE BREAK--- 21 Carolina for much of her seventh grade year. She finished out that grade and spent grades 8-12 at Red Creek Central School. Sharon recalls that as a left-handed person she had some difficulties learning to write. When first learning to print as a very young student, the teacher tried to force her to use her right hand which just would not work for her. She eventually became so upset that she stayed out of school until the next year. Later, she learned first to write in cursive backward and she has not lost this talent! She also recalls that in grades 1-4, there were only three girls in her class: Sharon, Phoebe O’Brien and Rinda Longley. While in elementary school, Sharon bought her lunch with money that she tied up in her handkerchief, which probably had crocheted edges done by her grandmother. Very few people used paper tissues in those days. Sharon remembers loving the school’s apple crisp as her favorite lunch item. As a child, Sharon was good friends with Loretta Stanton, Mary and Wayne Wall, and Nancy Parsons. As a teen she became friends with Carol Craine, Pat Brown and Max Reed. Max and Sharon worked in the restaurant together. Sharon in Mardi gras skirt brought to her from N. Orleans by Marguerite and Earl Stanton, 1956 In high school, Sharon was involved in several activities. She was in the National Honor Society, and Student Council. She worked for the Red Cricket, the student newspaper, and The Centralite, the yearbook. She was secretary of her class. She also was a percussionist in the band for a couple of years and played intramural sports. She was a busy student! Sharon also began working as a young teen. She babysat Diane and Jack Cosser’s two oldest boys for the wage of 35 cents per hour! The price went up to 50 cents per hour after midnight. Later she worked in her Dad’s restaurant in Fair Haven. ---PAGE BREAK--- 22 Sharon as a member of the National Honor Society Sharon’s Senior Picture ---PAGE BREAK--- 23 A Different Life While working in her father’s restaurant Sharon met Albert Wheeler, who had been in the US Navy for four years and now was working on the railroad. Soon he got laid off. He decided that since there were no jobs around he would return to military life. He and Norman Liebenow joined the Air Force in early 1958. During this time Sharon and Al were dating. He came home in May and they married on May 16, 1958 while he was on leave. He had proposed on the phone! Sharon says “parting makes the heart grow fonder,” which, she believes was the ---PAGE BREAK--- 24 motivation for their quick marriage. She still had a month to go to finish high school! After a two-week leave, he left for Texas to be trained as a mechanic on C130 transport planes, while Sharon completed high school. After graduation, she moved to Texas to join him. From there, they moved to Tennessee where Al began working on C130’s at Sewart Air Force Base. Their daughter, Chris, was born in April of 1959 while they lived in Tennessee. From there the young family went to Rhein-Main Air Force base, near Frankfurt, West Germany, where they lived off base until their names came up on the list. Then they moved on base. Their son, Jimmy was born (April, 1960) in Wiesbaden while Al was stationed at Rhein-Main. Mr. and Mrs. Albert Wheeler on their wedding day ---PAGE BREAK--- 25 Geraldine, Sharon, Ran, baby Chrissy and Paul on the day Sharon and family left for Germany German Traditions Sharon states that her German landlord and landlady were very kind. They enjoyed Sharon’s and Al’s children and they did not resent the Wheelers as Americans. The landlord and landlady refused to drink the water from their municipal water system because they said many people had tried to escape during World War II via the pipes in the system. Even in 1959, 14 years after the war, they did not drink the water, believing it to be contaminated by human flesh. Sharon said she learned from them not to drink it as well. ---PAGE BREAK--- 26 Sharon’s family learned about the December 6th tradition of filling shoes with candy in their area of Germany, so they began doing it as well. Moreover, Sharon said that she ate lots of German sweets from a nearby bakery. She especially loved the kuchen. Al loved the German beer. They had a rattle trap of a car but one time the family rode in it to the Black Forest. Sharon and the kids would sometimes go to Frankfurt by street car to browse and shop. Mostly though, money was tight and they stayed around home. At this time the radio carried only one station: Radio Free Europe, so Sharon would listen to that. They had no television but the landlady did, so Sharon would watch Perry Como on Sundays. It was the only American program on TV. While Sharon’s family was in Germany, the Berlin Wall was erected (1961-2). However, Berlin was a long way away and their car was not very trustworthy, so they did not visit it. ---PAGE BREAK--- 27 Chrissy in Morfeldon, W. Germany; in the background was a gate to the landlord’s home. Sharon and family rented the upstairs in that home ---PAGE BREAK--- 28 Jimmy at age 2, on base in West Germany ---PAGE BREAK--- 29 Another life change Al’s overseas stint was up so Sharon’s family was scheduled to return to the USA in the fall of 1962. Sharon could hardly wait. Soon a snag in plans developed: the Cuban Missile Crisis. (The Soviets had placed missiles in Cuba that could enable a nuclear attack on the USA. The response by the US was a quarantine on Cuba and possible plans for an attack on the Soviet Union. Nuclear destruction was a distinct possibility. Eventually the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles if the US would not invade Cuba.) Because of the crisis, Al’s tour of duty was extended, much to Sharon’s disappointment. Sharon said she had wanted so much to return to the “land of the round doorknobs” but the plans were foiled. (German doors all had levers.) Al was sent to Turkey and Sharon and all military families on base were to have all documents in order and easy access to their dog tags. They were to be ready to leave with five-minutes’ notice. The reason was that they were to be evacuated to the coast and then be transported to an unknown place. She heard later it might have been Africa. Sharon pointed out that actually the family stayed in Germany, but only for two months because “Russia blinked.” They came home by jet “with a good tailwind” in December of 1962. Al was home for the holidays. Al was then transferred to Travis Air Force Base in California, near Fairfield. They lived there from 1963-1966, where Al was crew chief on C130’s. Then he was sent to Udorn Air Force Base in Thailand for a year’s tour where he was doing air rescue and recovery on helicopters. Sharon’s father came to California to help her and the kids move home. After Al’s tour in Asia was over in 1967, he came home to Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, to work again on C130’s and air rescue and recovery on helicopters. He was with the 48th Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron. They were training to refuel helicopters using C130 tankers. Sharon and the kids moved to be with him and stayed there until 1969. Al received orders to be sent on another 15-month Southeast Asia tour. Sharon and the children moved home again. Al returned to the States in 1970 and the family moved to McClellan Air Force Base in California. Again Al had a 15-month stint based out of Taiwan and Sharon and the children once more moved home. With all the time he spent in Southeast Asia, Al was exposed to the contaminants in Agent Orange, a jungle tree defoliant, known to have cancer causing agents. Al returned to McCoy Air Force Base in Florida where his family once more joined him until he retired in June, 1974. They moved home for the last time, believing that the separations of being a military family were finally behind them. Sharon’s Home Front Involvement While Al was stationed at Travis Air Force base in California, Sharon began volunteering at the base hospital, running errands, etc. for disabled veterans. One vet she particularly remembered was such a sad case; he had lost both legs at the hips and both arms. Al was soon transferred to Thailand so Sharon and her children came home. ---PAGE BREAK--- 30 When Sharon moved back to McClellan AFB in California, she began writing petitions as part of a petition drive to North Vietnam so that POW’s could get their mail from home. This campaign was started by Sybil Stockdale. Her husband, Vice Admiral James Stockdale, later ran for Vice President on the 1992 Ross Perot Independent ticket. Other POW and MIA wives were involved in beginning this petition drive, as well. Interested military wives from other bases wrote many petitions altogether. Eventually these petitions were successful: the POWS in North Vietnam received their mail! She heard about an organization called VIVA: Voices in Vital America, which was created to commemorate POWs and MIA’s to make sure they were not forgotten. MIAs’ and POWs’ names were engraved on metal bracelets. Sharon began wearing her POW/MIA bracelet from the VIVA organization at this time. Hers commemorated Captain Leroy, “Lee” Cornwell, from Arizona. He was shot down over Laos and was declared Missing in Action in 1971. Later, VIVA ran out of money and was disbanded. In the late 1990’s, Sharon visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC. She found Lee Cornwell’s name on the Memorial; however, his name was so high on the black stone that she could not reach it. A man did a pencil rubbing for her, which Sharon has saved. From the rubbing she found out that Cornwell’s body had been brought back home sometime after the end of the War. Sharon’s VIVA bracelet commemorating Lee Cornwell ---PAGE BREAK--- 31 Pencil rubbing of Lee Cornwell’s name from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial; note the mark at the left of the name designating that the soldier’s remains had been returned to the USA Military Retirement Al went back to work for the railroad and Sharon went to work at Cato Show Print. To her surprise, another woman from the Fair Haven area, Melva Smith, also wore her VIVA bracelet! Melva was commemorating her son, Edward Smith. Otherwise Sharon had seen no one else wear one. It saddened Sharon to find the lack of interest in the cause of MIAs and POWs. In 1979 Sharon became a deputy clerk at Fair Haven Village Hall. She worked there with Linda Hadden Jackson (later, Clum), Clerk-Treasurer. She left in 1983 because when wished to do some traveling. Her husband, Al, felt like he had traveled enough so Sharon went with Nancy Wheeler, a sister-in-law, on a couple of trips. They toured Europe, visiting England, Holland, Austria, West Germany, France and Italy. They went to Nashville a few times. Sharon went by herself to California to visit old friends. In 1985, Sharon began babysitting her grandchildren. Al continued working on the railroad. During the first part of 1992, the family had colds but Al’s did not seem to go away; he finally saw the doctor. After some medical tests he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He went to Rochester General Hospital to have it removed. While he was there, it was found that the brain tumor was the result of metastasized lung cancer. Within two months of having his brain tumor removed, he had a lobe of one lung removed. After two more brain tumor surgeries, Al Wheeler died from cancer in 1993. Babysitting her grandchildren was good therapy for her grief, Sharon says. ---PAGE BREAK--- 32 Sharon has several grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her extended family brings sparkle into her life. These days, Sharon babysits her great grandchildren. She is often seen walking the streets of Fair Haven, sometimes with a baby carriage or stroller, staying in shape, giving the children fresh air and visiting with various people in the village. People know her as good natured, friendly and helpful.