Tom and Charlotte Schryer Family

Thomas Gordon Schryer

b. 24 July 1948

Married: 13 June 1970, First Presbyterian Church, Hillsdale, MI

Charlotte Ann Schryer (nèe Green)

b. 14 April 1949

Tom Circa 1961

Thomas Gordon Schryer was born 24 Aug 1948, the third child of Fran and Elaine Schryer.

Tom went to Michigan State University for his Bachelors and Masters degrees in mathematics. He wanted to go into the space program but NASA fired 50,000 aerospace workers between his degrees and he looked for other careers in his area of specialty. He came across actuarial work and has enjoyed his field. He has actuarial credentials similar to a law degree.

A classic family story about Tom happened during his college years. He came back to his dorm one evening to find no parking spots for his motorcycle. After careful calculation, he parked his motorcycle on the frozen Grand River. The next morning he had a parking ticket on his bike. He demonstrated to the parking authorities, in his calm, clear, low-key way, that the parking maps of the university did not forbid parking on the river. He beat the ticket. Later in the week the State News, MSU’s student newspaper, ran a picture of a row of motorcycles parked on the river.

Between his Bachelors and Masters degrees, Tom was sent a draft notice for the Vietnam War. He saw no reason why dead “gooks” would make the world a better place. He is an efficient and effective person and thought it very possible that he could become a killing machine in Vietnam. He decided to fight his draft notice. Always a thin man, he lost 31 pounds in 30 days between his pre-induction and induction physicals. This brought him underweight and caused hallucinations. He was released from the draft and did not serve in the Vietnam War.

As an adult, Tom invented a guitar type known as the ChordBender and spent ten years developing it. He holds patent number 6875911. As of this writing, the ChordBender is making strides in the marketplace; it is now carried at one of the nation’s number one guitar stores, Elderly Instruments in Lansing, Michigan. A variety of professional musicians are both testing the guitar and using it on their albums.

Tom’s hobbies include playing guitar, riding his motorcycle, water skiing, and sailing. His says that his wife is his primary source of entertainment. Politically, Tom is conservative.

His advice to his great grandchildren is to take the ball down the field and make progress in something. There are plenty of opportunities.

Wedding of Charlotte and Tom Schryer 13 June 1970

First Presbyterian Church, Hillsdale, MI

The Greens

I interviewed Charlotte in 2008. She told me about her family of origin. Her parents were Frank E. Green and Vera Green (nèe Roose). Charlotte has two sisters, Judith Ann and Debra Ellen. Judith has one adopted son from her second marriage – Seth – and Debra has no children.

Charlotte’s father, Frank, was a horticultural farmer. He had a farm of fruit trees in Allen, Michigan, and sold produce both commercially and through a family store. He had the first dwarf orchard in the state of Michigan. People came from Detroit and Chicago to buy his fruit. The Greens have a cabin in Ludington on Hamlin Lake which they have enjoyed for decades.

In terms of health issues, there is breast cancer on the maternal side of Charlotte’s family as well as back problems on her father’s side.

Charlotte said she would like to be known for her creativity, particularly in crafts such as stained glass work. She made both me and Katrina stained glass lamps as wedding gifts. In addition, she enjoys nature and the outdoors; she is an avid gardener. She also takes pleasure in observing animals, particularly birds, and in fishing. She says if she had not remained active and outdoors she might not know where the world came from. She is family-oriented but not “gushy.” She has hosted family Thanksgivings for several decades, bringing together Norm and Diane’s families each year.

Charlotte went to business school in Chicago. She is a homemaker and active community member including having a seat on the planning commission for their home city of Willoughby Hills, Ohio.

My earliest recollection of Aunt Charlotte is from before her children were born. It was Christmas in Hillsdale. She pulled me around on a sled; I was thrilled. On Christmas morning there were tracks in the snow behind the house. She very frankly pronounced them reindeer tracks, intimating that they were Santa’s reindeer. She almost convinced me that Santa really had been there.

Her advice to her great grandchildren is to work together on a marriage. It’s a partnership, a priority that enhances your individuality.

Charlotte makes famous chocolate chip cookies. She gave a gift to my brother once: a bowl, a wooden spoon, and this recipe card.

Silas Franklin Schryer

b. 30 May 1980

Silas got his name for several reasons. First, after the book Silas Marner. The title character was a good man, ill-accused, who nonetheless comported himself well before, during, and after being wrongly punished and then vindicated. The couple also chose the name Silas after the Apostle Silas (Acts 14, 15), an unsung hero.

The couple wanted a traditional rather than trendy name. Silas’s middle name, Franklin, reflects Fran Schryer. Fran had asked his children not to name their sons “Francis” after him as he did not care for his name (he was teased as a child with “Francis is a girl’s name.”)

Silas had this to say when I sent out a call to my generation asking for their family stories. Silas is a world traveler.

You caught me at a good point, I feel like ranting a bit. This year [during the second Iraq war] I took a vacation to the Middle East. Norm told me it was a bad idea, he was right like usual. At one point the chair I sat in the Cali Callili market in Cairo was blown up a week after I was there, killing a French girl. I also went to Palmyra, Syria on a bus 12 miles from the Iraqi border. The guy driving us across the Jordanian desert during a four-hour night time ride turned out to be named Jihad. He turned out to be a great guy and we got an $80 dollar cab ride for ten bucks. What I got from my trip is that this place is messed up.

Since traveling to both Egypt and the ruins of the Mayan Empire I am convinced that some knowledge was shared between the two cultures. Because I break the rules and climb all over everything, I found that both Mayans and the Egyptians used metal smelter and poured it into dog-boned shaped things that held the blocks of rock together in their buildings. I have seen all the superior ancient societies (what’s left of them). I guess that’s my greatest achievement.

Lately, I am really into green technology. It is a hobby of mine and I have a solar panel, battery, and inverter, and I can do a few things off the grid.  But before you start to think I’m a hippy liberal, let me explain myself: climate change (if it’s true) is being used to destroy capitalism, and cap and trade is a bunch of bull. President Obama can’t let anything President Bush did succeed, even hydrogen fuel cells, and this is part of the problem. It will keep the Saudis happy for years to come.

I am into the green technology because it lets me turn my own house into a power plant, so I am more self-sufficient and less reliant on government and big business.

Marne Shannon Schryer

b. 16 April 1984

Marne (pronounced mar-nèe) is Tom and Charlotte’s second and last child. She got her name from a number of sources including a town called Marne in Michigan, the historical Marne region of France, and the Alfred Hitchcock movie Marnie.

She had the following to say about her life.

I was born on April 16, 1984 and grew up in Willoughby Hills, Ohio. I played violin as a child; I steal my father’s violin and still play every now and then while intoxicated.

I started life guarding at pools at the age of 15 after growing up in swim classes and volunteering as a swim instructor. I was also very involved in aquatics in college.

I have always been addicted to popcorn. I have eaten it at least four times a week, if not everyday, since I was 10. My brother thought I would grow out of this obsession, but I never did. I love to cook.

I went to Ohio State University. I started out in mathematics and switched to communications. After graduating I had to pay bills so I started serving at Johnny Rockets, a 1940s style soda shop. I became a supervisor and a corporate trainer and opened over a dozen stores before being hired by the second largest store in the company. I am currently living in Greenville, South Carolina.

I grew up with the warmest parents in the world. They showed me how to be a good person, genuine and organized, yet relaxed. I am much like my father because of my love for music and humor and eternal love for the undead. I am also like my mother, who is beyond organized and the greatest hostess in the world. She is full of love and compassion.