Walter Schumann, founder of the Shelter Island Reporter
Walter Robert Schumann, founder, editor and publisher of the Shelter Island Reporter for 14 years and later a columnist for The Suffolk Times, died at University Hospital, Stony Brook, on Friday, June 4, near the 40th anniversary of his paper's first edition. He was 83. Mr. Schumann was the great-grandson of composer Robert Schumann.
A funeral service will take place today, June 10, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Shelter Island.
According to his daughter, Peggy Pahoulis of Holtsville, Mr. Schumann died of complications associated with long-term diabetes. He is also survived by another daughter, Elizabeth Brumfield of Mission Viejo, Calif.; two sisters, Marie Personius of Elmira, N.Y., and Clare Albee of Tequesta, Fla.; and four grandchildren. His first wife, the former Natalie Elizabeth Barrett, to whom he was married in 1943, died in 1978. In 1979, he married the former Caroline Mottram, who predeceased him in 1995.
Walter was the son of Etelka (Liddle) and Felix Schumann, a German immigrant and grandson of composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife, Clara. He was born in Bronxville, N.Y., in 1915, and grew up in Yonkers, where he became an award-winning pianist while still in grade school. Before he graduated from high school, Mr. Schumann organized his own dance band, playing in clubs throughout Westchester County.
He began his newspaper career in the late 1930s as an advertising space salesman at the New York Sun. He volunteered for military service in 1942, and continued his journalistic path by founding and editing a daily newspaper, the Sunsetter, while assigned to the 13th Army Air Corps Fighter Command in the South Pacific, a unit that was awarded 11 battle stars.
After the war, Mr. Schumann returned to the Sun until it was sold in 1950, when he formed his own printing company in Manhattan. In 1959, the Schumanns became year-rounders at their Shelter Island home, after 13 years as summer residents. Surprised by the interest in the Pennysaver news sheet he published, Mr. Schumann ventured to try a weekly newspaper, after several others had failed in the past. Because mailing within Suffolk County was free in those days with a bulk-rate permit, he was able to coax nearly 300 subscribers that first summer to continue receiving weekly news of Shelter Island year-round for the princely sum of $3. By the time he retired for health reasons and sold the paper in 1973, The Shelter Island Reporter's subscription list had reached 2,000, more than the Island's year-round population, a benchmark of which he was very proud.
In 1987, Mr. Schumann returned to the editorial field to write his weekly column, "An Ear to the Ground," for The Suffolk Times until failing eyesight forced him to submit his last column on Feb. 14, 1991. Later that year, the Schumanns packed up and headed for a retirement village in Wilmington, N.C. At a farewell dinner, Mr. Schumann was presented with a plaque that reads: "To Walter Schumann, in appreciation for telling the truth to Shelter Island." It became one of his most prized possessions.
After his wife, Caroline, died suddenly in 1995, Mr. Schumann returned to Long Island to live with his daughter in Holtsville.
Memorial donations may be made to the Shelter Island Public Library.
Obit published in The Suffolk Times June 10, 1999.
Walter Robert Schumann, founder, editor and publisher of the Shelter Island Reporter for 14 years and later a columnist for The Suffolk Times, died at University Hospital, Stony Brook, on Friday, June 4, near the 40th anniversary of his paper's first edition. He was 83. Mr. Schumann was the great-grandson of composer Robert Schumann.
A funeral service will take place today, June 10, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Shelter Island.
According to his daughter, Peggy Pahoulis of Holtsville, Mr. Schumann died of complications associated with long-term diabetes. He is also survived by another daughter, Elizabeth Brumfield of Mission Viejo, Calif.; two sisters, Marie Personius of Elmira, N.Y., and Clare Albee of Tequesta, Fla.; and four grandchildren. His first wife, the former Natalie Elizabeth Barrett, to whom he was married in 1943, died in 1978. In 1979, he married the former Caroline Mottram, who predeceased him in 1995.
Walter was the son of Etelka (Liddle) and Felix Schumann, a German immigrant and grandson of composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife, Clara. He was born in Bronxville, N.Y., in 1915, and grew up in Yonkers, where he became an award-winning pianist while still in grade school. Before he graduated from high school, Mr. Schumann organized his own dance band, playing in clubs throughout Westchester County.
He began his newspaper career in the late 1930s as an advertising space salesman at the New York Sun. He volunteered for military service in 1942, and continued his journalistic path by founding and editing a daily newspaper, the Sunsetter, while assigned to the 13th Army Air Corps Fighter Command in the South Pacific, a unit that was awarded 11 battle stars.
After the war, Mr. Schumann returned to the Sun until it was sold in 1950, when he formed his own printing company in Manhattan. In 1959, the Schumanns became year-rounders at their Shelter Island home, after 13 years as summer residents. Surprised by the interest in the Pennysaver news sheet he published, Mr. Schumann ventured to try a weekly newspaper, after several others had failed in the past. Because mailing within Suffolk County was free in those days with a bulk-rate permit, he was able to coax nearly 300 subscribers that first summer to continue receiving weekly news of Shelter Island year-round for the princely sum of $3. By the time he retired for health reasons and sold the paper in 1973, The Shelter Island Reporter's subscription list had reached 2,000, more than the Island's year-round population, a benchmark of which he was very proud.
In 1987, Mr. Schumann returned to the editorial field to write his weekly column, "An Ear to the Ground," for The Suffolk Times until failing eyesight forced him to submit his last column on Feb. 14, 1991. Later that year, the Schumanns packed up and headed for a retirement village in Wilmington, N.C. At a farewell dinner, Mr. Schumann was presented with a plaque that reads: "To Walter Schumann, in appreciation for telling the truth to Shelter Island." It became one of his most prized possessions.
After his wife, Caroline, died suddenly in 1995, Mr. Schumann returned to Long Island to live with his daughter in Holtsville.
Memorial donations may be made to the Shelter Island Public Library.
Obit published in The Suffolk Times June 10, 1999.
Walter Schumann, founder of the Shelter Island Reporter
Walter Robert Schumann, founder, editor and publisher of the Shelter Island Reporter for 14 years and later a columnist for The Suffolk Times, died at University Hospital, Stony Brook, on Friday, June 4, near the 40th anniversary of his paper's first edition. He was 83. Mr. Schumann was the great-grandson of composer Robert Schumann.
A funeral service will take place today, June 10, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Shelter Island.
According to his daughter, Peggy Pahoulis of Holtsville, Mr. Schumann died of complications associated with long-term diabetes. He is also survived by another daughter, Elizabeth Brumfield of Mission Viejo, Calif.; two sisters, Marie Personius of Elmira, N.Y., and Clare Albee of Tequesta, Fla.; and four grandchildren. His first wife, the former Natalie Elizabeth Barrett, to whom he was married in 1943, died in 1978. In 1979, he married the former Caroline Mottram, who predeceased him in 1995.
Walter was the son of Etelka (Liddle) and Felix Schumann, a German immigrant and grandson of composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife, Clara. He was born in Bronxville, N.Y., in 1915, and grew up in Yonkers, where he became an award-winning pianist while still in grade school. Before he graduated from high school, Mr. Schumann organized his own dance band, playing in clubs throughout Westchester County.
He began his newspaper career in the late 1930s as an advertising space salesman at the New York Sun. He volunteered for military service in 1942, and continued his journalistic path by founding and editing a daily newspaper, the Sunsetter, while assigned to the 13th Army Air Corps Fighter Command in the South Pacific, a unit that was awarded 11 battle stars.
After the war, Mr. Schumann returned to the Sun until it was sold in 1950, when he formed his own printing company in Manhattan. In 1959, the Schumanns became year-rounders at their Shelter Island home, after 13 years as summer residents. Surprised by the interest in the Pennysaver news sheet he published, Mr. Schumann ventured to try a weekly newspaper, after several others had failed in the past. Because mailing within Suffolk County was free in those days with a bulk-rate permit, he was able to coax nearly 300 subscribers that first summer to continue receiving weekly news of Shelter Island year-round for the princely sum of $3. By the time he retired for health reasons and sold the paper in 1973, The Shelter Island Reporter's subscription list had reached 2,000, more than the Island's year-round population, a benchmark of which he was very proud.
In 1987, Mr. Schumann returned to the editorial field to write his weekly column, "An Ear to the Ground," for The Suffolk Times until failing eyesight forced him to submit his last column on Feb. 14, 1991. Later that year, the Schumanns packed up and headed for a retirement village in Wilmington, N.C. At a farewell dinner, Mr. Schumann was presented with a plaque that reads: "To Walter Schumann, in appreciation for telling the truth to Shelter Island." It became one of his most prized possessions.
After his wife, Caroline, died suddenly in 1995, Mr. Schumann returned to Long Island to live with his daughter in Holtsville.
Memorial donations may be made to the Shelter Island Public Library.
Obit published in The Suffolk Times June 10, 1999.
Walter Robert Schumann, founder, editor and publisher of the Shelter Island Reporter for 14 years and later a columnist for The Suffolk Times, died at University Hospital, Stony Brook, on Friday, June 4, near the 40th anniversary of his paper's first edition. He was 83. Mr. Schumann was the great-grandson of composer Robert Schumann.
A funeral service will take place today, June 10, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Mary's Episcopal Church, Shelter Island.
According to his daughter, Peggy Pahoulis of Holtsville, Mr. Schumann died of complications associated with long-term diabetes. He is also survived by another daughter, Elizabeth Brumfield of Mission Viejo, Calif.; two sisters, Marie Personius of Elmira, N.Y., and Clare Albee of Tequesta, Fla.; and four grandchildren. His first wife, the former Natalie Elizabeth Barrett, to whom he was married in 1943, died in 1978. In 1979, he married the former Caroline Mottram, who predeceased him in 1995.
Walter was the son of Etelka (Liddle) and Felix Schumann, a German immigrant and grandson of composer Robert Schumann and his pianist wife, Clara. He was born in Bronxville, N.Y., in 1915, and grew up in Yonkers, where he became an award-winning pianist while still in grade school. Before he graduated from high school, Mr. Schumann organized his own dance band, playing in clubs throughout Westchester County.
He began his newspaper career in the late 1930s as an advertising space salesman at the New York Sun. He volunteered for military service in 1942, and continued his journalistic path by founding and editing a daily newspaper, the Sunsetter, while assigned to the 13th Army Air Corps Fighter Command in the South Pacific, a unit that was awarded 11 battle stars.
After the war, Mr. Schumann returned to the Sun until it was sold in 1950, when he formed his own printing company in Manhattan. In 1959, the Schumanns became year-rounders at their Shelter Island home, after 13 years as summer residents. Surprised by the interest in the Pennysaver news sheet he published, Mr. Schumann ventured to try a weekly newspaper, after several others had failed in the past. Because mailing within Suffolk County was free in those days with a bulk-rate permit, he was able to coax nearly 300 subscribers that first summer to continue receiving weekly news of Shelter Island year-round for the princely sum of $3. By the time he retired for health reasons and sold the paper in 1973, The Shelter Island Reporter's subscription list had reached 2,000, more than the Island's year-round population, a benchmark of which he was very proud.
In 1987, Mr. Schumann returned to the editorial field to write his weekly column, "An Ear to the Ground," for The Suffolk Times until failing eyesight forced him to submit his last column on Feb. 14, 1991. Later that year, the Schumanns packed up and headed for a retirement village in Wilmington, N.C. At a farewell dinner, Mr. Schumann was presented with a plaque that reads: "To Walter Schumann, in appreciation for telling the truth to Shelter Island." It became one of his most prized possessions.
After his wife, Caroline, died suddenly in 1995, Mr. Schumann returned to Long Island to live with his daughter in Holtsville.
Memorial donations may be made to the Shelter Island Public Library.
Obit published in The Suffolk Times June 10, 1999.
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