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Violet A. Malec
Former Proctorite Violet A. Malec, nee Gerber, died Sat., Dec. 7, 2002, in Chicago. She was 84.
Violet was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisc.
She was preceded in death by her husband Joseph, twin sister Margaret 'Daisy' Fransk, brothers William, Victor and Walter, and granddaughter Colleen Rochon.
She is survived by sons John (Arlene), Joseph and Robert (Diane), daughters Nancy (James) Mroczka and Mary (James) Rochon, all of Ill., brothers Robert (Caroline) of Nevada, Herbert (Gayle) Gerber of Duluth and Frank (Margaret) Malec of Proctor, sisters Audrey Cloutier of Duluth and Elizabeth (Reno) Backus, eight grandchildren, nine great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
Interment was at Resurrection Cemetery in Chicago.
Lila Beatrice Doyle
Lila Beatrice Doyle, who served as a Missabe Miss during World War II, died Fri., Dec. 27, 2002. She was 98.
She was born in St. Cloud, Minn., to Henry and Harriet Marlow (Cleavland) Higgins. She worked at the DM&IR as a hostler. She was also an elevator operator at the Medical Arts Building. Mrs. Doyle was a member of Forbes United Methodist Church and had been active in its women's group. She was a member of Trinity Eastern Star and a past PTA president at Proctor.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brother Floyd; and husband Felix on Oct. 4, 1978.
Survivors include daughters Phyllis (Lawrence) Jensen of Hermantown and Shirley Krokum of So. Lake Tahoe, Calif., eight grandchildren, 19 great-grandchildren, and two nieces.
Services were Tues. at Forbes United Methodist Church, Proctor. Rev. Marilyn Evans officiating. Inurnment was in Sunrise Memorial Park Cemetery in Hermantown. Memorials to Forbes United Methodist Church would be appreciated. Arrangements were made by Bell Brothers Funeral and Cremation Services.
Esther M. (Sheehan) Strom
Esther M. (Sheehan) Strom, a longtime Proctor area resident fondly referred to as 'the Big E', died in Duluth Fri., Dec. 27, 2002, at St. Mary's Medical Center. She was 87.
Esther was born in Superior, Wis. to Victor and Ervina (Aho) Erickson, and raised by her father and stepmother Ania Erickson. She was a former member of St. Rose Catholic Church and was also a member of Hillside Garden Club in Proctor.
She was preceded in death by her parents and her husbands Floyd 'Frenchie' Sheehan and Ernest Strom.
Survivors include her son James (Kathy) Sheehan of Coon Rapids, daughters Marilyn (Darrell) Moe of Hermantown, Darlene (James) Goodell of Proctor, Linda (Robert) Boyer of Duluth and Gail (Kim) Carpenter of Duluth, 11 grandchildren, ten great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.
Burial was in Calvary Cemetery. Arrangements were made by Bell Brothers Funeral and Cremation Services.
Gerald 'Big Jer' Edmund Brown
Gerald 'Big Jer' Edmund Brown, who was a volunteer firefighter and first responder with Solway Township for ten years, died Sun., Dec. 29, 2002 in his Morris Thomas Rd. home. He was 59.
Jer was born in Duluth. He was a 1962 Hermantown High School graduate and went on to attend UMD for one year. In 1965, he moved to St. Paul and was employed in marketing with the 3M Corp. He returned to Duluth in 1971.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Robert K. Bush.
Survivors include his children Sean (Nancy) Brown of Duluth, Jodi (Tim) Eales of Proctor, and Glenn (Jill) Brown of Corcoran, Minn., his 'soul mate' Dee Priola of Duluth and her children Melanie (Luke) Carlson of Duluth, Jenny Priola (Mike Silvis) of Proctor and Michael Priola of Neb., brothers James (Jan) Brown of Maple Grove, Minn. and Ralph Brown Jr. of White Bear Lake, Minn., his sister Marye McCarty of Duluth, Carol Swanson, the mother of Sean, Jodi and Glenn, five grandchildren, and the extended family members of the Browns, Priolas and Eales.
Visitation will be from 5 to 8 p.m. today (Thurs.), and will continue from 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. service Fri., Jan. 3, 2003, in Bell Brothers Chapel, 601 N. 56th Ave. W. Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery. Arrangements were made by Bell Brothers Funeral and Cremation Services.
Margaret Donovan Schoen
Former Proctorite Margaret R. Schoen, passed away Jan. 1, 2003, at her home in Baldwin, NY. She was 88.
She was the daughter of the late Dan and Tressa Donovan who erected the monument in front of the City Hall and Community Center for Margaret's younger brother who was killed in WW II.
Margaret was born in Proctor Jan. 3, 1914, baptized Jan. 18 of that year by Rev. Walsh and confirmed at St. Rose on May 26, 1927 by Bishop John T. McNicholas.
Upon graduation from Proctor High School, she was enrolled at St. Scholastica; 'the Villa' as it was known then. Her grandfather, Thomas Brannan, was Roadmaster of the DMIR at the time and her Father 'Dan' Donovan was working his way up the ranks of the railroad.
Margaret's parents shared the Second Street home of Mr. and Mrs. Brannan and their two sons, Leo and Norbert. She told her children she was treated 'like a princess' when she was a child. Her grandparents and her uncles doted on her, but her heart belonged to 'Dada'.
Dan Donovan was orphaned early and was very happy to be in a loving family. He taught her to be self-reliant and independent. He also taught her that royalty should have a sense of Noblesse Oblige, the obligation of nobility. In essence: those who are blessed have an obligation to serve others.
Dan was also an accomplished athlete and outdoorsman and he passed these traits on as well. All her life, Margaret was a great sports fan and followed closely the athletic careers of her children and grandchildren.
After a time at St. Scholastica, Margaret enrolled at the University of Minnesota and pursued a career in Nursing; she was awarded a BS in public health and became a School Nurse in Mankato, MN upon her graduation.
At that time, the New Deal, the world was changing. For the first time, the government took steps to improve living conditions for its poorer citizens and modern Public Health was born. In addition to vaccination programs, a new effort was made to inform people about sanitation and nutrition. Nurses made home visits and instructed caretakers how to treat their afflicted relatives.
This was almost unheard of previously. These nurses had to drive themselves and, often live far from their own families.
This sounded wonderful to Margaret and she accepted a position in St. Joseph, MO. While her mother had misgivings, her father and grandfather encouraged her, her grandfather even bought her a new car so he and Dan wouldn't have to worry about it breaking down far from home.
Meanwhile, the world at large was growing darker, the Japanese invaded Manchuria and Nanking, Hitler ignored the Treaty of Versailles and occupied the Sudatenland. Mussolini made the trains run on time but he also tried to establish a dominion over parts of Africa. Eventually, Hitler invaded Poland and France and Great Britain declared war against the Axis Powers.
At the time, the United States was the world's 17th largest Army and the nation began to realize we would soon be part of the conflict and would need a more powerful military. The first peacetime draft was initiated.
Margaret's younger brother, Thomas, was amongst the first to be drafted. Since he had some college at the time, Tommy was selected for OCS, Officer's Candidate School. He later attended Jump School and then Artillery School at Ft. Sill, OK.
Margaret visited him in Ft. Sill just prior to him being assigned to the then new 82nd Division (Airborne). The 'All Americans' had one regiment, the 376th, of Parachute Field Artillery. They jumped with 75mm 'Mountain Howitzers', a small gun that could be broken down and carried by pack mules. 1st Lt. Donovan was one of their forward observers.
Margaret wasn't feeling that well and, at her mother's urging, went to Chicago where it was discovered that she had an abscessed kidney duct that required her to undergo an operation to remove a kidney. She recovered and stayed on in Chicago and worked in a large, metropolitan hospital.
After Pearl Harbor, Margaret enlisted in the Army Nurse Corps. The Army was reluctant to have a nurse with only one kidney, but they accepted her with the provision that she could not serve overseas. She was posted to the Station Hospital, New Orleans Port of Embarkation, supervising a locked psychiatric ward. She served there for the duration of the war.
At first, service in that famous city was pleasant. Fresh troops were being sent all over the world. The new soldiers were filled with optimism and there had been few casualties yet. There were plenty of handsome men from all over the country eager to enjoy the night life with a beautiful nurse before they shipped out for God knew where.
The one who caught her fancy was a dark-haired, blue-eyed Captain Dentist from New York: Gerard H. 'Buddy' Schoen. They dated for a few weeks while he assembled material for the hospital he was to set up in Northern Australia.
Buddy moved on and the world got darker still. There were still many men and she did go out but her heart was overseas.
Casualties began to return, many of the men were grievously injured, amputations and such, others had few apparent wounds but suffered mentally. Margaret's Uncle Leo had been gassed in France and suffered from what was then called 'shell shock' so she understood what was in WW II known as 'combat fatigue'. Today it is recognized as 'delayed stress syndrome'. She had sympathy for those who suffered, so she became a psychiatric specialist.
And she worried more. War news was heavily censored, as was mail. Loved ones didn't know where their soldier or sailor was stationed or where they were going. Tommy fought in North Africa and Sicily; Buddy went from Australia to New Guinea to the Philippines and, eventually, Okinawa. He was a dentist, assigned to a hospital like hers, she worried but not as much as she did about her younger brother.
In April of 1944, her worst fears were realized. Word came that her brother had been killed March 16 in the 'North Africa Theater'. It was only at the end of the war that she began to hear of Anzio, on the Italian mainland, and not until after the war that a fuller account of what happened was learned.
Fortunately, Buddy was luckier although he wasn't always a dentist working in a hospital. In fact, he didn't work in the hospital long. The Army needed combat medics and Battalion Aid Stations. Dentists were performing medical procedures under fire all over the Pacific. Buddy won three Bronze Stars for being in the first wave in New Guinea, Leyte and Okinawa.
When he came home, they were married, in New York City, in the Church of the Transfiguration, 'The Little Church Around the Corner', Oct. 20, 1945. Their wedding reception was held at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
They made their home in Baldwin, NY, where Dr. Schoen joined his father's Dental Practice.
Their first child, Thomas Donovan Schoen, was born the following July followed by Robert and Jane, and Daniel and Elizabeth who were twins. From the birth of Tom 'til the twins was less than five years.
Margaret and her family were frequent visitors to Proctor through the years, and her parents often traveled to New York as well. Robert attended the then Moorhead State College and Jane attended Mankato State. Robert married and stayed in Minnesota for several years after graduation and before returning to Baldwin where he resides today and is a member of the Baldwin Board of Education.
When Margaret's children were older she returned to nursing and worked in Public Health again. She was a Girl Scout Troop Leader and President of the Women's Advance Club of Baldwin. On May 10, 2002, that club celebrated their 95th Anniversary by honoring Mrs. Schoen as their Guest of Honor.
After her husband passed away, Mrs. Schoen took his place by marching in Baldwin's Memorial Day Parade.
Margaret and her family enjoyed boating and traveling. She visited Europe and Hawaii with her husband several times and on one memorable trip, they visited Hawaii, Guam, The Philippines and Hong Kong. They visited Thomas and his family while Tom was stationed in Guam for the Bank of Hawaii. Another memorable trip was when she visited Ireland with her girlhood friend from Proctor, Ellen Sullivan Felice.
After Dr. Schoen passed away she continued to travel, visiting Japan by herself.
She is survived by her five children: Thomas of Saipan, Robert of Baldwin, NY, Jane Lance of Charlotte, NC, Dan of Colfax, CA and Liz Benjamin of Pearl River, NY. She has ten grandchildren and two great-granddaughters.
