Donald “Don" Schumann 65 of Coeur D Alene, ID passed away on March 14, 2018. He lost is battle with MDS Myelodysplastic Syndrome. He had a bone marrow transplant on September 22, 2017 in Seattle and battled graft versus host disease a post transplant complication. Don was born March 9, 1953 to Henry and Verna Schumann in Denver Colorado.
Don grew up in Henderson Colorado with 2 brothers and 2 sisters. He graduated from Brighton High school in Brighton, Colorado in 1971. He was a member of the men's basketball team and had fond memories of
those days. He was also active in the Adams County 4H club with his
dad Henry. He raised rabbits and at one time had 500. He was also a member of the American Rabbit Breeders Association and was register for a time.
He met his wife Claudia Cato through rabbits, She purchased a rabbit from him for a 4H project. They were married on October 10, 1980 in Littleton, Colorado. They were blessed with two children, son, Kyle Schumann in August of 1986 and Kayla Schumann Derr in August 1988. And in April of 2013 were blessed with their Granddaughter Molly Derr.
Don and Claudia lived several places during their 37 year marriage, including Colorado, California, Montana and Idaho.
Don's career was always in the fencing industry. He started his career shortly after high school with Standard Fence in Colorado until 1986. He worked for a short time with his brother Ron and then moved to California in 1989 and worked for Master Halco for approximately 13 years. He then worked for Mike Wenisch at Golden State Fence in Rancho Cordova, California. He worked for Mike until 2007. In 2007 he began working for Idaho fence, in 2014 he accepted a position with
them at their Bakken Fence location located in Sidney Montana as manager, he continued in that role until returning to Idaho in 2017 and returned to Idaho fence as an outside sales representative.
Don had several interests and hobbies. He was an avid vegetable gardener. He enjoyed every aspect of gardening. From purchasing his seeds to starting them in his grow house. And then to transplanting them and nurturing them through those first cool spring days and nights. He loved the harvest of his bounty and to share with friends and neighbors. One year we canned 52 pints of green beans from his
garden. When he lived in California he enjoyed visiting the orchards and
picking fruit as a family. In 2016 we picked Flat Head Lake cherries in Big Fork Montana with Kayla, Aaron, Molly and Bob and Kathy Cato. We picked 53 pounds of cherries that day. Don loved cherries. And the time Kayla spent with her dad in the orchards are some of her fondest memories. We often joked that he should have been weighed before picking and then again once he was finished to pay for all the fruit he
"sampled".
Don was passionate about his yard, he had to have the greenest lawn on the block and it had to be mowed just a certain way and there was no one else that could mow it or trim it the way he did. You would never find a weed in his yard. And if he found a dandelion blooming he stopped everything to remove it.
Several years ago Don was the male winner of the biggest loser contest at our local gym Peak Fitness in Coeur D Alene. He was the oldest winner they had ever had. His award for winning was a bicycle. We were blessed to live in a beautiful place that provided many days of bike riding opportunities. His favorite place was the trail of the Coeur D
Alenes. The trail was a total of 73 miles stretching from Plummer Idaho to Mullan Idaho. His goal that first year was to ride the trail from start to finish and he accomplished that with Kyle in September of that year.
He also enjoyed upland bird hunting with Kyle and his dog Danner and Kyle's dog Paxson P Puppy. They put in many miles walking fields both in Idaho and Montana. When Don had the opportunity to move to Montana for work one of the top reasons for accepting that position was to be able to hunt birds with Kyle. Don also enjoyed fishing., he
fished as a young man with brother Ron in Colorado. And then fished
with Kyle in California. He also got to deep sea fish with Kyle in Oregon and Alaska.
Don was a Denver Bronco's fan to the end. He shared watching the game with Kyle and Kayla, not always were they together to watch the game but talked or texted during the game. Don actually rarely watched a complete game due to-superstition of how the game was going. If it was a close game and the Bronco's started losing one or both the kids would call or text to see if he was watching and tell him to stop watching in hopes of them turning things around.
We have many memories of our adventures as a family and the great friends who shared in so many of them as well.
Don attended Lake City Church in Coeur D Alene Idaho with Claudia. He was involved with several small groups at church and served in several ministries. He enjoyed serving ice cream on Friday nights once a month, he was a greeter and participate in several other Serve
opportunities. One of his most memorable was filling Easter eggs for the children's Easter egg hunt. I don't know how much candy he ate that evening but he sure had a lot of fun and laughs. He also enjoyed attending the Men's breakfasts that were served at the church he enjoyed the fellowship shared at those events. He and Claudia were also members of the TLC cancer group at Lake City. Even though he didn't attend but a couple of meetings they were a great support through prayers for both Don and Claudia through his Journey with MDS that was treated like a cancer.
Don was survived by his Brothers, William and Ronald Schumann and
Sister Nina Mueller. He was preceded in death by his parents Henry and Verna Schumann and Sister Linda Scott. He is also survived by many Nieces and Nephews. As well as his Son in Law, Aaron Derr who he loved deeply.
The family would like to invite everyone to Don's Celebration of Life on Monday March 26, at 6:30 pm, the Service will be held at Lake City Church in Coeur D Alene, Idaho. The church address is 6000 N Ramsey Road. A reception will follow the 'service at the church. The family requests no flowers be sent.
Don will be missed by so many. Our hearts will always be empty in that place he holds. Every moment we had with him is now a great memory and we are so glad we have a bunch.
Broken Chain
(Ron Tranmer)
We little knew that morning God was to call your name. In life we loved you dearly, in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you, You did not go alone.
For part of us went with you The day God called you home. You left us beautiful memories, Your love is still our guide,
And though we cannot see you, You are always at our side . Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same, But as God calls us one by one, The chain will link again.
Monday, March 26, 2018
Starts at 6:30 pm (Pacific time)
Lake City Community Church
Visits: 36
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the
Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Service map data © OpenStreetMap contributors