My mother influenced me more than anyone else I’ve seen on this earth. For that, I’m eternally grateful. I also must say that without unique aspects of my father’s influence, I would not be the individual I am today. I hope this reflection helps you consider your own father’s or other males’ positive influences on your life.
My parents both were born in 1924 and started school at the beginning of the Great Depression. NBC-TV journalist Tom Brokaw appropriately dubbed theirs “The Greatest Generation” in his book of that name. These are the folks whose transition to adulthood coincided with World War II. While the draft board of the day rejected my own father from military service, these two seminal events in world history greatly affected that generation and made them stronger people.
Arthur “Art” Schamburg was born and reared in Perryville, Mo. Most residents of the town and of Perry County as a whole were descendants of German immigrants. While they conducted official business in English, for decades they often spoke to one another in German. In fact, my dad didn’t learn English until he went to school!
If you noticed that his last name and mine are spelled differently, there’s a reason. Friends from Germany informed me in my 20s that “Schamburg” is misspelled! A history booklet from Perryville’s Immanuel Lutheran Church spells it “Schaumburg.” The literal translation is “castle in the mist,” but my favorite is “foam town!” Unfortunately, that spelling change has led even residents of Perry County today to pronounce the name with a short a – SCHAM- (rhymes with ham, no jokes please!) burg. So, at age 30 and with my father’s blessing, I changed it back to the original spelling, hoping that makes it easier to pronounce SCHOM-burg.
For decades, virtually everyone in Perry County was German and either Lutheran or Catholic! In fact, a large group from Saxony, a province of Germany, immigrated by ship across the Atlantic Ocean and up the Mississippi River in 1838. They settled in Altenburg and Frohna, in order to practice their Christian faith under the Bible-based insights Martin Luther made known in the Protestant Reformation he initiated in 1517. With headquarters long-since relocated to St. Louis. The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod continues today as a national church of more than 2 million members and missions world-wide. Most of my family remains in this biblically-based, theologically-conservative church.
Make no mistake, I feel blessed and proud to be an American. Still, my grounding in my German heritage and my faith continue to be important and special aspects of my life. While they both came from both parents, I learned more about the German heritage from my dad.
He also had a vast knowledge and deep understanding of an endless array of other topics. While growing up, I could ask him about anything and he could explain it!
He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Missouri School of Mines and Minerals at Rolla. His interest in education and media directly influenced my own career in radio, newspaper, school public relations, and college teaching.
We both loved baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals. He’d share memories of Dizzy Dean, Enos Slaughter, Pepper Martin, Stan Musial, and the World Championships of the 1930s and ’40s. Throughout our shared lives, no matter what, he and I always could talk about baseball.
Despite all of my mother’s volunteering to lead Sunday School and Vacation Bible School classes, my sister’s 4-H club, and to be room mother of my fourth grade class, she chose not to be den mother when I joined the Concord Elementary School Cub Scouts. When we transitioned to the highest level of Cub Scouts, when a dad or two would lead the “den,” my dad volunteered. He went on to serve as Scoutmaster when I graduated to Boy Scouts and later as an advisor to other troops. He thought it was the ideal organization for a young man, regretted that he never had the chance to join as a boy, and, I think, saw his involvement as a gift to me. I honestly think part of the reason I completed Eagle Scout was as my gift to him. He was indeed proud of that achievement.
My mother influenced me most of all; yet, without my father’s influence, I would not be the individual I am today. Thanks, Dad. I love you!
Question of the Week
How has your father or another male role model influenced you?