Ernest "Ernie" Schooler Infield
WOOSTER -- Ernest "Ernie" Schooler Infield, 89, venerated columnist, decorated Marine, and campaign strategist, passed away peacefully in Wooster, Ohio on March 28, 2009.
Born in Frazeysburg, Ohio, on May 11, 1919, to Fern Schooler Infield and Charles Irwin Infield, Ernie matriculated from Fredericksburg High School in 1937, graduated in 1939 from the Wooster Business College and joined International Harvester as a manager.
Ernie tracked sports, especially baseball, recording statistics of legend Bob Feller and other Ohio-based athletes. Ernie is listed on IMDB.com for his interview by ESPN Classic regarding Bevo Francis' basketball career.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Ernie volunteered for the 4th Marine Division which undertook beach landings in the South Pacific theater. Ernie saw the flag raised twice on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima, Japan. Between campaigns, Ernie formed a regimental baseball league, organized games/teams, kept statistics and published results/commentary for the Division.
Directly after his honorable discharge, Ernie became the personnel director for the Fredericksburg Art Pottery and joined the United Steel Fabricators as a sales executive the next year.
Ernie married Emily Louise Kuhles on Flag Day, June 14, 1947. Together, they operated the Kuhles Fruit Farm for more than 20 years. Emily predeceased him in November of 2005.
In 1951, Ernie joined the Wooster Brush Company eventually leading the sales division for 20 years. Ernie then became information director at the College of Wooster (COW) garnering national recognition. He was instrumental in forming a COW basketball booster club - the Downtown Rebounders -in 1969. Ernie was elected to the Wayne County Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. In 1985, Ernie named the newly formed North Coast Athletic Conference for Division III Colleges.
In 1964, Ernie had an initial bypass surgery at the Cleveland Clinic followed by a second double-bypass in 1974. Surviving only on the original bypass, Ernie underwent a quadruple bypass in 1996. At his death, Ernie was believed to be the longest living mammary artery bypass patient; he was one of the few to have received three very successful open-heart surgeries crediting the Cleveland Clinic researchers/surgeons and his Marine Corps training for his ability to survive those, and 30 other various, serious operations.
Recognized for his 60-year Wooster Daily Record (Ohio) and syndicated column, "Ramblin' Round the Infield," Ernie was also active in Lions Club which honored him with: Lion of the Year in 1984, Lion's Highest award - The Melvin Jones Fellowship Award in 1992, and the Milestone Monarch award in January, 2009. Campaign manager for Wooster's first female mayor, Margaret Demorest, Ernie led 20 other successful campaigns for Republicans. For his comprehensive public service, the Wooster, Ohio community honored Ernie with a special day in1994.
Ernie is survived by daughter, Linda Wakefield; son-in-law, Mark Wakefield; and grandsons, Jared Steven and Spencer William of Canton, Michigan. Dear surviving cousins include, Bessie Stewart Infield and Larry Grey Infield of Coshocton, Ohio, Heather Schooler of San Francisco, Calif., Dean Schooler of Colorado, David Schooler, Kristy and Blake Schooler of the Columbus, Ohio area, Eleanor Kuhles of Florida, Ginny and Everett Tompkins of South Carolina, Martha and Harold McMahon, Grace Tompkins Cox, Gary, Nancy, and Wayne Cox, and their respective families of Cleveland, Ohio, and the Meier cousins, including Barbee and Don of San Diego and Tennessee.
The immediate and extended family of E. S. Infield invites all of his colleagues and friends to a memorial service near the time of what would have been Ernie's 90th birthday. The service will be held at the United Methodist Church of Wooster, Ohio on May 17, from 2:30 to 4:30 pm.; military honors and a reception following. For Lion's Club, used eyeglasses, reading glasses, sunglasses and their cases will be collected at the memorial service/reception.
Ernie dedicated his body to science; the family asks for donations, in lieu of flowers, in Ernie's name to The United Methodist Church of Wooster, 243 N. Market St., Wooster 44691 or The Heart Innovation Fund, The Cleveland Clinic, P.O. Box 931517, Cleveland 44193-1655.[Beacon Journal, Akron, OH, Friday, May 145, 2009, page B7, col. 1]
No comments:
Post a Comment