The Old Spinster Teacher

Irma R. Schumacher (1916-2001)

Over the years, I have come across a number of fascinating people.  As I was digging through and organizing some personal memorabilia recently (being laid-off from work gave me the time to do so, but that is a whole other issue!) I came across some old articles from the retirement community, Carpenters Home Estates, where I worked as a security guard back around 1995-1997.   I make a habit of saving tidbits of information about people I come across in my life's pilgrimage, and when I worked at "The Estates," I came to know several fascinating individuals.  One of those was a sweet Minnesota-born old spinster and retired schoolteacher  by the name of Irma Schumacher.  

The old Carpenter's Home newsletter, The Shavings, used to highlight one of the residents every month in each issue, and in October 1997 they featured a good article on Ms. Schumacher where I am getting a lot of the material for my own little tribute to her here.  Ms. Schumacher was born in Minnesota, and was never married.  She was raised rural (which I can appreciate) as her father was a farmer by trade, but God had greater plans for young Irma, which started humbly with her vocation as a country schoolteacher near where she grew up.  In time, she would attend both Columbia University as well as getting a Master's from the University of Minnesota, and soon afterward her world literally opened.

A young country schoolmistress off the Minnesota farm, young Irma was soon commissioned in a civilian capacity to teach the children of servicemen who were on active duty, a position she worked in for many years until her retirement.  Her travels in this vocation took her to several lands, including the Phillipines, Morocco, and other nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa.  What fascinated me the most was her tenure in Ethiopia, which she wrote of and spoke of quite fondly and frequently.  She had the privilege, while educating schoolkids in Asmara, to even meet in person the late Emperor Haille Selassie of Ethiopia.  She truly had a rich and full life.

When I met Irma personally back in 1995, I was working as a security officer at the front desk at Carpenter's Estates in Lakeland, and being I worked on the evening shift, it was often quiet and some of the people would just come down to chat.  I got to know Irma pretty well at that time, and she would always capture my interest in those nightly conversations as she recalled many of her adventures overseas.  She was an incredibly articulate lady, very well-read, and she also loved to write - as a matter of fact, she did publish a book of her memoirs entitled Words In Edgewise, which was an apt description of her as she loved talking to people.  She lent me a copy of that fascinating snippet of her life, and I almost could not put it down because she wrote so positively and detailed of her experiences that it automatically captured the reader's attention.  In the personal copy she had, she also included a number of handwritten notes as supplementary material.  I would love to find a copy of that book today honestly, but unfortunately very few of them exist and it would be a miracle of the Almighty to find one.  Perhaps though one day I will come across something - who knows?  I have found rare stuff like this before, so anything is possible. 

A copy of one of Irma's articles from 1996 - the artwork was hers as well!

In an article she penned for the Shavings back in February 1996, she briefly recounted some of her experiences, but she also focused on a current dilemma she had at the time.  When she wrote that article, she was preparing to attend a reunion of her former students in Washington, DC, that they titled "Celebrating 50 Years of the Brat Experience" as a theme.  Her main issue in going was her hair color - should she go copper-colored, or remain naturally silver-toned?  She kinda did an unofficial poll at the time among her fellow residents and some of the rest of us, and I remember telling her to stay natural.  Her nephew told her it wouldn't really matter anyway due to her then-43-year-old yellow trademark hat that her students fondly recalled her wearing.  I don't remember myself what she decided upon, but she made it to the reunion and by all reports she enjoyed herself.  She deserved to - she impacted a lot of people's lives, and they are probably better because God blessed them with the privilege of her mentoring. 

Two things I remember personally about Irma Schumacher were her always-positive attitude (I don't think the lady had the capability of negativity, honestly!), and in contrast, she also suffered from a debilitating bone disorder that made her neckbones very rigid and brittle.  As a result, she never wanted to be hugged or touched by anyone, save a sincere handshake, because she feared suffering damage to her neck.  It was a shame too, because she was the type of lady you just wanted to hug - a sort of favorite sweet old aunt, in a way.   But, everyone respected her, although she would have to admonish newcomers that she was "fragile" and therefore it would discourage any backpats or hugs.  Perhaps she was just too overly cautious, but who's to say - she had her reasons, and that was OK by most of us who knew her.  Nonetheless, she was still a very loving individual, and as far as I can recall, no one really had anything bad to say about her.  People like that are a rare species, and it is always a blessing to get to know them.

Another interesting thing was that she had an interest in the ducks in the little pond out in front of the Estates, and one in particular that caught her attention was a drake duck she called "Daffy."  Daffy was unique - unlike a typical duck, Daffy had a cottonball-like topknot on his head that looked like a tiny wig, and it made him unique, but he was a cute duck.  Ms. Schumacher loved him, and often she would go out and feed and talk to him near the pond.  Unfortunately, in 1995 he met his demise when some unknown predator decided to have duck tartar for dinner, and Daffy was chosen by the critter to be the main course.  He was missed, and a gentleman at the Estates wrote an epitaphic poem about him and published it in the Shavings that month, per Ms. Schumacher's bidding.  I had thought up to this point that she wrote the poem - she could have honestly - but rather it was a gentleman by the name of David Ayers that penned it.  Here is a caption of its reproduction below:

In short, Irma Schumacher lived a full, vibrant, and very interesting life.  She never married, and never had kids - most of her maternal direction she reserved for a nephew, Frank, who kind of took care of and looked out for her.  Frank, as of 2001, lived in Nebraska, although he kept in regular contact with his aunt, and she spoke highly of him all the time.  As all good things must come to an end, so did the legacy of Irma Schumacher.  She developed dementia over the ensuing years, and due to complications from that she passed away on Tuesday, July 3, 2001.  And as legacies go, she has left a rich one.  I know I have said this on many occasions, but indeed the cliche that our loss is heaven's gain applies to Irma Schumacher.  When I see the sorry turn much public education has taken these days, it makes me long for the day when caring teachers such as Irma Schumacher and so many others imparted real education - not political soapboxes, not basketweaving to merely earn a paycheck - to students, and students learned something.  Robert Newton Peck, one of my favorite authors and also a personal writing mentor, said it best when he said this: " I respect teachers, so much so that I intensely distrust their unions who prey upon teachers and rob them of their money. Worse yet, when a teachers union hops into bed with a political party, education gets a slap in the face".   Irma Schumacher was one of the least political of people I have known, and she was also one of the most positive - she didn't soapbox about dumb issues, nor did she bemoan current administrations or other such crap.  She was just an old spinster schoolteacher from Minnesota who loved her life and treasured her blessings, which we could all learn a lot from.  God bless your eternal rest, Ms. Schumacher.