John Woods Schaller passed away on Feb. 14, 2014 in Jefferson City, Montana. John was born in St. Paul, Minnesota on April 30, 1927.
John lived a very full and rewarding life, working at various jobs from a very young age. Some of his jobs included paper boy, waiter at the Hotel St. Paul, window washer for his father’s business, shoe salesman, large appliance and electronics salesman at Macy’s in New York City, teacher of gifted children, a counselor and professor of education at the University of Regina in Regina, Saskatchewan.
There were challenging times in John’s life. His mother and father divorced and he and his brother lived with various relatives and friends for a time. His mother spent time away from the family to try and recover from asthma, but died when John was 13 years old. John served his country as a Paratrooper and was in Japan after the war in the Army of Occupation. Always eager to attend more classes, the Army didn’t know exactly what to do with him. They decided on putting him through cook and baker school, where he was soon put in charge. Senior officers visiting asked John who was in charge, and were clearly not happy when they learned that John was, in fact, in charge of the large feeding operation.
When John married Joanne C. Leigh in 1952 after Joanne won Vogue magazine’s Prix de Paris contest and moved from St. Paul to New York City, John completed his teaching degree and doctorate in administration at Columbia University and Teachers College. John and Joanne eventually moved to Regina, Saskatchewan and had two children, Huntley and Suzy. Huntley is presently doing economics research at Carleton University in Ottawa. Suzy is a preschool teacher in Aberdeen, Saskatchewan.
Canoeing and camping were some of John’s favorite activities. He was also passionate about gardening and knew how to build and fix anything. John loved talking about medicine, nutrition, politics, economics and the spirit world.
John actively involved himself in the Canadian Red Cross, Unicef’s Year of the Child, and Ranch Ehrlo. He served on university committees, and the Lutheran church’s Native Support Committee. Ranch Ehrlo was a special interest of his because he spent many hours in the principal’s office as a young boy, and Ranch Ehrlo was a school dedicated to at risk students. John was on the Board of Ranch Ehrlo for many years, and two of the Ranch schools have been named for him – the Schaller School and the Schaller Education Center.
Joanne’s love of writing haiku truly reflects this mountain couple’s joy and wonder of their Montana home.
A most recent haiku of Joanne embodies this.
Snow falls, turns mountains’
rocks and trees gray-white, soft, as
my love’s stubbled face.
Rest in peace, Grandpa. Your spirit will live on in these majestic giants we call the Elkhorn Mountains.
A memorial service celebrating John’s life will be held 1:00 p.m. Wednesday, February 19, 2014 at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church, 3580 N. Benton Avenue in Helena. A lunch reception will be held in the church’s Great Room, immediately following the memorial service. To offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of John please visit below.
Denise Feller says
It was always so nice to see the two of you in church (East Helena) and to talk with you. You could feel the love you had for each other. My prayers are with you at this time.
Mary Baker says
John had such a beautiful way of making people feel loved and appreciated. He inspired people to be their best and to never give up. We are blessed to have called him our friend. Joanne, you and your family are in our thoughts and prayers.
Josh and Mary
Guy Youngblood says
Joanne, your wonderful husband and you have always been a blessing to me. I will so miss seeing John in the pews at East Helena United Methodist. Your encouragement was always uplifting and supportive of the ministry of Christ. The world will be a lesser place because of John’s passing. Tomorrow, during the service of death and resurrection, I will be at the VA, but my thoughts will be with you.
May God’s merciful arms enfold both of you,
Guy and Amy
Lynn Cochran and Bruce Block says
Our prayers are with you all…John was so nice to visit with and always showed interest in others. He certainly had quite a wonderful life with so many friendsall around the country. God bless and hugs you Joanne. Lynn and Bruce
Penny Paddock says
From John climbing on the roof at 82 to Joanne playing the organ at church, we will never forget either of these two gentle souls who graced our dance classes with their presence for many years. A trip back to our home state would not have been complete without a trip out to Jefferson City for Joanne’s ever-present visitor snacks and haikus, and John’s gentle wisdom on all the latest knowledge of the world.
Diana L Connick says
Sweet Joanne,
I am hoping this message gets to you… I wanted you to know how much I am agonizing over not being able to talk with you. I was so late and you were so into being there for you all of your family and yourself…that I just wanted to honor you by guarding that space for you! And now I have missed (being able to see and speak with) you! I am so happy you were able to go up to Suzy’s, at that time. I think being alone would have been extremely hard…especially since we had three weeks of the worst storms, we have had in 10 years.
I cannot remember Suzy”s (married) last name nor will Lee give me any information. (I had the info in case of emergency, on your box update form)! I think Lee has absolutely no ability for discernment! In any case, I cannot contact you… Please contact me, when you wish to and I really would love to speak with you and see how you are doing! My phone number is 406-442-7460 or email me if you wish