Jeanette Schumann

On October 22, 1931, in the small town of Oldenburg, Texas, Jeanette Adela (Marie) Seiffert, daughter of Alfred and Ella Seiffert was born. Jeanette was baptized on April 3, 1932, and later confirmed her faith, September 3, 1944, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Warrenton, Texas.

Jeanette grew up on a farm, with two older sisters; Clara A. (Seiffert) Liebsher (born April 25, 1920, died May 23, 1977) and Esther Ella (Seiffert) McDaniel (born July 16, 1924, died April 8, 2011). Jeanette attended Fayetteville High School, where her studies were held in Old Red Main and graduated Class of 1948. Outside her normal studies, Jeanette participated in FHA, Choral Club, Pep Squad, Volleyball (Capt. 1947-1948; Co-Capt. 1946-1947), and Baseball 1944-1947 (Capt. 1945-1946).

Growing up, families would gather with other families and go dancing! As a youngster, Jeanette, and her future husband, Elward, would attend some of these gatherings and run around playing together – having no clue of what the future had in store for them…

One evening, while attending a dance at Zapp Hall in Warrenton, Texas, young attractive Jeanette caught the eye of Elward Schumann. Elward couldn’t get up enough courage to ask Jeanette to dance, so instead, Elward went home and wrote her a letter asking for a date. Having not heard back from the letter, Elward, not willing to give up, made a trip to her house in search of Jeanette. First stopping at Clara and Edgar’s house, Elward tried opening the gate, which had cans attached (warning the dogs that someone was entering), dogs started barking and running towards the gate. Elward determined he had the wrong house and headed up the hill to the two-story white house. There he found Jeanette and asked her folks for permission to take her on their first date to Carmine Hall. This is when the courtship began for Jeanette and Elward. Jeanette was still in school at this time and Elward was still living at home, but as a young couple Jeanette and Elward saw each other every other weekend.

Jeanette’s daddy would not allow her to get married until she was 18. On November 20, 1949, Jeanette Seiffert and Elward Schumann were united in marriage at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Warrenton, Texas. A reception followed at the bride’s home. Their honeymoon was a night in Brenham, followed by a few days with Jeanette’s parents and a few days with his parents, and they then headed to Austin.

Austin, Texas would be where they called home. They lived in a one room dwelling with a community bathroom on North Lamar. As time went by, they needed a change, so they moved into a garage apartment—but it swayed when the wind blew. Their first real home was in Govalle, 1129 Tillery Street which grew over the years. It was the home where they would begin to raise their three children: Barbara Ann, Laura Jean, and Dennis Lee.

Jeanette and Elward both worked hard. Jeanette worked outside the home for years before becoming a stay-at-home mom doing ironing on the side. Elward was an Austin Firefighter and worked as a carpenter building houses in Northwest Hills. In time, Elward built their two-story home in Allandale North, 1803 Richwood Drive, Austin, Texas.

Baptisms, confirmations, and graduations were celebrated with family and friends at the house in Allandale North, with BBQ and all the sides prepared by Jeanette and Elward. Trips to grandpa and grandma’s houses, visits to relatives, trips to amusement parks, camping, fishing, and boating were all fun times. The most unforgettable vacation was to Durango, Colorado in the new, used white Chevrolet Impala bought from a pastor and a Starcraft pop-up trailer. There was car trouble all along the way, but everyone still had a great time. Holidays, especially Easter (Austin or Oldenburg), Thanksgiving, and Christmas were always special and memorable – many blessings!

More blessings came when their kids started having children of their own – 9 grandchildren to be exact: Christi, Jeffrey and Cullen Chovanec, Terrie, Garry, Jr., Becky and Randall Preusse, and Melissa and Brandon Schumann.

Then more blessings – the grandchildren getting married! Tyson, Kasia, Billy, James, Kevin, and Andrea became part of the family, and as a result, great-grandchildren came along – 13 to be exact… Eliana, Lily, Violet, Camdyn, Colson, Tayton, Garryn, Mason, Bryant, Braelynn, Carson, Jaxson, and Caitlynn.

Jeanette was blessed with so much happiness but had to endure sadness with the loss of two grandsons, Garry, Jr. (Elward’s Luby’s partner in crime) and Randy Preusse (an Army soldier), great-grand-daughters, Lily Voelkel (a sweet, courageous 3-year old) and Braelynn Peteete (a vivacious and loving 8 year old girl that loved her family and great grandma), great-grandson, Mason Chandler (Tayton’s twin; a precious baby angel), and Kevin W Smith (#1 fan of her noodles) husband to grand-daughter Melissa Schumann Smith.

Many lifetime memories were made at the home in Austin and Oldenburg, known as “the country”. Especially the holidays, Elward being a firefighter, Jeanette had to schedule and plan the family holiday gatherings to accommodate his work schedule and other family plans. At Easter, she always had plenty of candy for the Easter egg hunt, Thanksgiving with turkey and all the trimmings, homemade pecan pies and chocolate chip cookies. The Christmas season always included beautifully wrapped gifts, her and daddy choose special for everyone. Christmas meal of ham and turkey, homemade sides, desserts of many kinds, divinity candy, fudge, pecan pies, molasses, and chocolate chip cookies just to mention a few.

She often spoke about the good times attending polka and waltz dances with other couples, the Gebhardt’s, Richter’s, Mueller’s, and Eilers, their Alaskan cruise with Esther and Mac McDaniel, and playing Dominoes.

Sixty-seven years of marriage of which Jeanette says, “wasn’t always peaches and cream,” but her love for Elward gave them many years of memories and happiness during good and bad times. They spent most of their time alongside one another building their lives together at their home in Austin and the country. Their love for each other was so strong, being separated from one another was extremely difficult.

She was an amazing woman, who loved her husband and family deeply. She enjoyed canning, (pickles, green beans, okra and garlic) baking, sewing (green bean suit), gardening, growing plants, stuffed animals of all kinds and sizes and special times with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Sharing the words on Jeanette’s Remembrance of the Day of Confirmation memorial verse:

“I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness; but shall have the light of life.”

Miss you mama, grandma and great grandma. Reunited with your forever love, Daddy (Elward) in the place where you belong as HIS beloved children. Forever in our hearts! It’s not goodbye, but see you again, greeting us with open loving arms. “We love you Mama!”