Being Thankful for Uncle Carroll

As you all gather for Thanksgiving dinner Thursday, you are no doubt thinking about the many ways you are thankful for Dr. Carroll Schield having been in your lives. As you likely all know by now, Uncle Carroll died on November 22 at age 96 after a short bout with cancer. The cancer, with which he was diagnosed in July, was incurable and so he was moved into the Agrace Hospice in Fitchburg, Wis., to live out his remaining days in comfort and peace with family around.

David Schield says plans for a service for Uncle Carroll are still pending, though at this point they will probably be held sometime in January after the holidays.

My first thought upon hearing the news was that TWO great men died on November 22, as the world and the nation marked the 50^th anniversary of the death of President John F. Kennedy this month. In fact, the coincidence doesn’t end there. Both men were born in 1917 so had JFK also lived this long, he would be 96, a milestone Carroll reached just the day before his passing.

The thing I am most thankful for about Uncle Carroll was his decision – sometime more than 50 years ago, I believe – to buy a little shack of a cottage off of a creek running into Lake Arbutus in Hatfield, Wis., and call it “Never-Never Land.” Over the years, the Schield family improved the property including adding the 20^th Century innovation of indoor plumbing, replacing the outhouse and water pump out back. Sadly, when we gathered for the reunion there in 2012, I discovered the cottage did not have wi-fi. But during that visit, Uncle Carroll showed me which rooms were there at the beginning and which ones were added on over the years. (The photo above is of Carroll with my siblings Bill, Joe and Tricia at the reunion.)

His family, the Mullinses, Jonases, McCorrys and the nuns all enjoyed many great summer vacations at the cottage swimming, boating, skiing, cooking out and enjoying each other’s company. And it was CHEAP! Just the cost of gas and food to feed the kids.

In later years, we went there to enjoy snowmobiling. One year as we were driving up there from Wauwatosa it was snowing and my Mom, ever the worrier, said “Oh George, it’s snowing! We should turn back!” I can’t remember exactly what my Dad replied but it was basically, “Mary, that’s WHY we’re going! We want there to be snow!”

Anyway, Uncle Carroll was the chief developer and architect of Never-Never Land and for that I am thankful.

Uncle Carroll was about the only person I knew who smoked a pipe and it was of a piece with his quiet, gentle demeanor. He didn’t talk much  -- hard to get a word in edgewise with all those gregarious McCorrys around – but as David wrote on Facebook of his father’s passing, “He taught us all many things, but as a man of few words, his lessons were by example.”

Uncle Carroll opened his dental practice in Neillsville after graduating from Marquette University Dental School in Milwaukee. David says he ran the practice for 42 years before retiring; his son Dan Schield took over the practice, if I recall correctly. Our family dentist in Wauwatosa, Dr. Druse, was a classmate of Carroll’s and he’d always ask about the Schields when we had an appointment.

I remember also being impressed with Uncle Carroll’s athleticism, especially later in life.

David writes: “In his 50's he rediscovered tennis and played until he was 88 years old. He was a gentle, yet sometimes feisty, man who was not extravagant in style or taste, but preferred classy and comfortable. He taught us if you want nice things, you must work for them, a lesson not just for us, but for many. All these traits he leaves with all of us, and we will all miss him very dearly.”

Feel free to share your thoughts either here on the blog or on Facebook where this will also be posted.

Either David or I will get you details on the services when they become available.

Also, while I have your attention, I’m preparing the McCorry Family Christmas Letter for 2013 now so please share with me news of your families this year – weddings, births, job changes, moves, vacations or videos of you on You Tube that got more than 1 million hits!

Keep me posted. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a great Christmas Season!

Robert Mullins

San Jose, Calif.