Waldo Schroeder Jr.

Wally was born August 15, 1947 to Waldo and Blanche Schroeder in Guymon, Oklahoma. He grew up in Guymon and graduated from Guymon High School in 1965. His senior year in high school his dad and brother Mark moved to Hooker, Oklahoma while Wally stayed in their house in Guymon to finish out his senior year.

Wally then attended Panhandle State University where he met and later married Sandi Templeton, the mother of his two daughters, Kim and Jenni. While in college he joined the Army ROTC and graduated as a 2nd Lieutenant in 1969. During his military service he fought in the Vietnam War as a platoon leader from 1971 to 1972. Throughout his career he was stationed at numerous bases both internationally and in the US. He was in the infantry, drove tanks, graduated from both paratrooper and Ranger schools and later went to pilot training where he graduated as a helicopter pilot, flying Huey and Cobra helicopters. He retired from the Army National Guard a Lt. Colonel at Ellington Field in 1990.

After Wally completed active military duty he entered the oil & gas industry and spent nearly 35 years in the industry. In 1988 he started Blending, Marketing, Services, Inc. which operated as a successful trading company up until 2008. The company primarily blended gasoline for various clients & customers in New York Harbor which included Shell Oil. He really cherished the people he met in the industry and mentored many young people new to the trading business along the way.

In 2007 Wally suffered a tragic fall in his house that resulted in permanent paralysis below the neck. During his long and difficult rehabilitation Wally was blessed to reunite with a friend from his military days, Sherry Crosbie. They were married in 2012. Despite his situation, he was not one to stay still. They lived in Houston, TX; Kennewick, WA; Bulverde, TX, and lastly Columbia, MO. Because of his strong will to live and his love of friends and family, he lived for over 13 years after becoming a quadriplegic.

Known for his ease of conversation with everyone, Wally possessed a charismatic personality that made everyone who he met like him. Throughout his life he earned the trust and hearts of many and kept a fierce desire to maintain friendships and relationships. Spending time with family and providing for them was one of his priorities and he was a constant presence in his daughters’ lives. He was unendingly proud of Kim and Jenni and their accomplishments throughout their school years, the successful careers they both established, and then the grandchildren he was blessed with. His gifts of humor, generosity and love will never be forgotten.

Wally is preceded in death by his parents. Those left behind to cherish his memory are his wife, Sherry; his daughters Kim Schroeder and Jenni Schroeder Gold; their spouses Allison Lui and Brad Gold; his grandchildren Dylan Schroeder-Lui (7), Jude Schroeder-Lui (2), Brogan Gold (7) and Berkley Gold (2); brother and sister-in-law, Mark and Silvia Schroeder and their children Angela Yarbrough, Walter Monroe, and Lisa Eddy; his best friend Andy and his wife Patricia, his sister-in-law and brother-in-law Kathy and Don Craig and his nieces Angie and Holly; Sherry’s daughter Katie and her husband Eric and their children June, Sage and Ozzie; Sherry’s son Corey and and his wife Jaime and their children Cole and Josie; Sherry’s son Todd and his daughters Bailey and Laila; Sherry’s son John and his wife Emily and their children Willow and Milo; his stepson and longtime caregiver Charles Holdaway and a multitude of dear friends.

Wally was an active part of Lone Star Paralysis Foundation in Austin, Texas, founded by UT and NFL player Doug English. You can donate a number of ways to this organization at www.lonestarparalysis.org.

A memorial service for Waldo will be held Friday, June 11, 2021 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM at American Heritage Funeral Home, 10710 Veterans Memorial Drive, Houston, TX 77038. A cremation will occur.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.AmericanHeritageFuneralHome.com for the Schroeder family.