Melvin Lee Schauer

Melvin was born July 10, 1928 in the Andy James Community, NW of Dalhart, TX. He was the first child and only son of Edward Ruben and Sadie Mae (Lamkin) Schauer.  But if you asked Melvin, he would say he was born in Lapland where Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado lapped together. The Schauer’s moved to Channing, TX to the McAlister place in the early 30's. Melvin started to school at Channing, where he walked to school and was late every morning. They later moved to the last house north of Channing. Ed farmed and did carpenter work. When Melvin was a teen, his father and him spent a summer on the Matador Ranch west of Channing building line camps. The Matador gave Melvin a spotted horse, which he named Dutch. He rode his bike and Dutch all over Channing. Sheriff Gene Collins asked Melvin and his friends Clyde and Red Shepherd to quit roping the town milk cows for fun. He graduated from high school in 1946. There were 6 in his class. In 1947, Ed and Sadie moved to Bethany, OK so their girls could go to Bethany Peniel College. Melvin helped Ed build the Bethany Ice House. He then worked for Brown and McClure Lumber Co.  In 1948, Melvin went back to Channing and worked for his Uncle James Lamkin on his farm. In Late December 1948, Clyde got him a blind date with Virginia Ruth Estes. They married September 24, 1950. On Sept. 29, Melvin was inducted into the Army at Ft. Riley, KS.  He was sent to Ft. Benning, Ga and was in the 4th Division, 8th Infantry D Company. He came home on his first leave on December 24th. Virginia joined him in Columbus, GA in late January. On May the 4th, Melvin left for Germany. They marched down 5th Ave in New York before boarding the boat. This was the first draft after WWII and they were called the Occupation Troops of Germany. Most of his letters came from Butzbach, Germany, but some came from Wiesbaden and some stated they were from somewhere in the Black Forest.      Melvin came home September 1952 and was mustered out at Ft. Sill. Melvin farmed for a few months and in February of 1953, they moved to Clovis, NM and then on to Crossroads, NM on a ranch. He worked in the oil field driving a water truck. In September of 1954, Melvin and Virginia went back to Channing to farm. In October, their first child, Becky was born. They moved back to Clovis in December and Melvin went to work as a butcher for Starkeys. In April, 1955, they moved back to Dalhart and he worked as a butcher at Watkins Pkg. Co. Their first son, Dale was born in January 1957. Their second son, Edward came in Feb 1959. In the fall of 1960, they moved back to the Channing area to Tom Belchers place where Melvin’s grandparents had lived when he was 4. He farmed and wind milled until 1961 when he went to work for Red Garrison. In 1963, their third boy and “Caboose” as Melvin called him, Howard was born. In 1967 they moved to Armstrong Place and worked for Alfred Ford. In 1975, they moved to Bowlegs, Ok so they could help their children go to college. Melvin went to work for the State of Oklahoma as a meat inspector and Virginia at Blue Bell (Wrangler.) The family was always active in the Nazarene Church wherever they were. Melvin was the teacher for the junior boys and the adults along with serving as the Sunday School Superintendent and on the Church Board. They are currently members of the Holdenville Church of the Nazarene. He is preceded in death by his parents, Ed & Sadie Schauer and infant sister, Anna Pearl and a granddaughter, Meagon Michelle. He is survived by his wife of 65 years Virginia of the home, four children Becky and Don Sheilds of Holdenville, Dale and Sherry of Elmore City, Eddie and Michelle of Mabank, and Howard of Corpus Christi TX and Cindy of Fort Gibson. 14 grandchildren: Schaun and Rosie Shields, San Bernadino, CA; Micheal and Kim Shields of Texarkana, TX; Kelly Shields of Sand Springs; Dalynn and Felix Pair of Richmond, TX,  Ruben Schauer of Blanchard, Eli Schauer of  Minneapolis, MN; Jennifer and Jake Baker of Maysville; Benjamin and Samuel Schauer of North English, IA; Timothy and Rachel Schauer of Plano, TX; Heather and Ryan Hoffpauir of Del City; Nathan Schauer of Bethany; Sierra Schauer of Sitka, AK and Alex and Seth Wright of Shawnee. There are 10 great grandchildren Andrew, Kaedence, Asa, Judah, Ezra, Parker, Addison, Emaleah, Luke and Case. Melvin is also survived by two sisters, Leola McKay and Dorothy Bishop of Dumas, along with 3 nieces, 5 brothers in law and 2 sisters in law and a host of friends.  Melvin’s goal was for all of his children to get a college degree. They did and two of them also received their Master’s degree. All of his grandchildren except 2 either have degrees or are currently going to school. One grandchild has his doctorate and two have their masters. Most of them all worked full time while attending college full time. He was very proud of each and every one of them. In lieu of flowers donations can be made to Crisis Care Kits in care of the Church of the Nazarene in Holdenville, Oklahoma. A very special thank you to Heartland Hospice, and the many doctors and nursing staffs that took care of our my husband and Daddy over the past several weeks.  Funeral services for Mr. Schauer will be 10:00 A.M., Tuesday, September 22, 2015 at the Swearingen Funeral Home Chapel with Rev. Lowell Clark from Davenport, Oklahoma officiating. Burial will follow at Rest Haven Memorial Gardens in Seminole. Casket bearers will be Schaun Shields, Michael Shields, Ruben Schauer, Eli Schauer, Timothy Schauer, Benjamin Schauer, Samuel Schauer and Nathan Schauer. Honorary bearers will be Felix Pair, Seth Wright, Jake Baker and Ryan Hoffpauir. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Swearingen Funeral Home in Seminole, Oklahoma.     Funeral Information: September 22, 2015, 10:00 AM Swearingen Funeral Home Chapel located at 1001 N. Milt Phillips Ave., Seminole, OK 74868