Bob Dyer with father, Big Al Dyer, in Norfolk; Bob's mother, Jane, a figure skating legend

Bob Dyer’s father passes away

Bob Dyer’s father, Big Al – Alvin C. Dyer, Jr. – passed away Tuesday, November 21.

It was the final journey for a guy who saw the world on Navy ships in the Atlantic and Pacific while warding off submarines and then married a national-class figure skater, Jane Schellentrager.

Which, of course, led to their greatest achievement, conceiving the Akron Beacon Journal’s greatest columnist, Bob Dyer, who came from the Wooster Daily Record to brighten Ol’ Blue Walls.

Bob and Brookdale aide Brandy Pryor accompanied his father, Big Al, to the Norfolk, Virginia naval base as part of Brookdale nursing homes’ Wishes of a Lifetime free granting of, well, a wish. For Big Al, who spent World War II in the Navy in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters, it was a slam-dunk: He wanted to be on a ship again.

So Big Al and Bob took their Victory Rover boat ride – Big Al’s first in a quarter-century -- while President Trump was dedicating the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the Gerald R. Ford, and, as Bob wrote, “Dad would be close enough to watch Donald Trump’s Marine One helicopter take off from the flight deck.”

To read Bob’s column about his journey with Big Al to the Navy base in Norfolk, Virginia, click on

https://www.ohio.com/akron/writers/bob-dyer/bob-dyer-big-al-merges-his-navy-past-with-present

Bob’s mother was no slouch either. Jane Schellentrager was a figure skater who competed at the national level. She was still dazzling on the ice in the Mid-Western senior pairs with Riki Bliss on a day when Hayes Alan Jenkins was winning the 1947 junior men’s title. Jane and Riki won a silver medal in 1947.

Big Al and Jane were married 36 year when she passed away.

Big Al’s obituary:

Alvin C. Dyer Jr.

Alvin C. Dyer Jr. finished the job on Nov. 21, 2017.

He was 93, an age he never dreamed he would reach.

A retired electrical engineer, Al was a perfectionist who reveled in repairing anything and everything and customizing all sorts of things around the house.

Born in Pittsburgh, he moved to Northeast Ohio during high school when his father, also an electrical engineer, was promoted and transferred to Cleveland.

After graduating from Shaker Heights High School, Al enrolled at Purdue University, but his education was interrupted by World War II. He joined the Navy and served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters before returning to Purdue to finish up.

In 1949, he married fellow Shaker Heights resident Jane Schellentrager, a figure skater who competed at the national level. They were together for 36 years before her passing.

They had two sons, Bob, of Copley, and Bill, of North Royalton, who survive; as do grandchildren, Carrie and Kimmie Dyer and Ryan and Kimberly Steigmeier. His sister, Jane McVay of Twinsburg, preceded him in death.

His sons married Becky Norman of Millersburg and Jeannine Steigmeier of Brooklyn, Ohio.

In later years, Al spent countless hours with a special friend, the late Betty Luthanen, who lost her husband a few years before he lost his wife.

'Big Al,' as his kids called him, spent his entire career with Atlas Car & Manufacturing Co. in Cleveland, where he specialized in designing scale cars for steel mills. He received multiple patents.

During the early years of his career, he would moonlight repairing TV sets.

In his 70s he began to collect and build clocks, everything from enormous grandfather clocks to small wall and desk models.

Until his early 80s, he was still crawling onto the second-story roof to mess with antennas, weather stations and satellite dishes.

His mind remained sharp well into his 90s. Until his last few years, he would watch the TV quiz show 'Jeopardy' almost every night and identify many answers before the contestants did.

Growing up during the Depression had a big impact. He would go to great lengths to avoid overpaying for even small items, sometimes driving several miles out of his way to save a few cents per gallon of gasoline.

He watched Lawrence Welk reruns every week on PBS. He enjoyed music, especially big bands, and had a wonderful singing voice. Although he had no formal training as a musician, he taught himself the harmonica while onboard ship in the Navy, and later enjoyed banging on bongos and noodling around on an electronic organ he built from a kit.

He was a tough guy, fighting until his final breath. But, like so many others in the Greatest Generation, he never boasted about his toughness - or anything else, for that matter.

The family would like to offer special thanks to the beautiful, selfless, loving people at Brookdale Bath. They greatly enriched the last two years of his life.

Donations may be made in Al’s name to Wish of a Lifetime, 110 16th St., Suite 406, Denver, CO. 80202, a charity affiliated with Brookdale that sent him on a wonderful trip to the Norfolk Naval Base in July.

Big Al will be buried next to his wife, and near his parents, during a small private ceremony at Acacia Memorial Park in Mayfield Heights.

He was a good man. He will be missed. He will not be forgotten.