AMDG
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Bob
Schopis and Ellen faithfully at his side for 70 years. We study American History. They lived it. This photo was taken in about 2011 for the
2012 St. Louis Church Directory.
Bob and Ellen Schopis are
members of the “Great Generation” that got us through the Depression and won World
War II. On December 7, 1941, the
Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the United States faced a crisis
greater than 9/11. The United States was
losing the war at first because the country was woefully unprepared for it.
The
United States had to mobilize 16 million soldiers from its population of 140
million to fight while retooling its industrial might (mining, oil, steel,
vehicles, machinery, etc.) to produce armaments, ammunition, equipment, vehicles,
ships, air planes, food to feed the troops and fight a war on two fronts……Europe
and the Pacific. The entire economy was
directed toward winning that war.
Pro sports were disrupted as such legendary players as Bob Feller, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio gave up three years of their careers in their prime to join the armed forces. Thus a one armed pitcher was able to make the big leagues during the war. In pro football, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles had to temporarily merge into the Steagles.
Pro sports were disrupted as such legendary players as Bob Feller, Stan Musial, Ted Williams, and Joe DiMaggio gave up three years of their careers in their prime to join the armed forces. Thus a one armed pitcher was able to make the big leagues during the war. In pro football, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles had to temporarily merge into the Steagles.
Even
Superman and Batman joined the fight in the comic books with the “Japs” and
“Krauts” pictured in very uncomplimentary ways.
As little kids, we would play war with toy guns, fighter planes,
bombers, and tanks. I even had a toy air
craft carrier. Oh how we looked up to
soldiers like Bob Schopis, especially marines, who would come home on furlough for
R & R, a break for rest and recuperation!
As a six year old my mother would send me to the store down
the street with money and ration stamps.
There was a limit to how much each family could buy to make sure there
was enough for the troops. When I was in
1st Grade, we had to collect used tin cans to recycle steel for the
war effort and sang patriotic songs at school.
The local steel mills were going full blast. The teachers cajoled us into saving our
pennies to buy war bonds.
Because
Pittsburgh was a prime target, we had air raid drills although neither Germany
nor Japan was capable of sending bombers such a distance. Instead of cars, Chrysler and GM produced tanks
and trucks. Boeing and McConnell Douglas produced fighter planes and bombers.
I
remember seeing one railroad car after another hauling tanks to port. Bob was risking life and limb on the war
front and Ellen was on the home front. People
were huddled at their radios for the latest news about the war after reading
about the details in their daily newspapers.
Nobody thought of demonstrating against that war. The Country was never so united except for our shameful culture of segregation and racial injustice with even a segregated military as well as ethnic
Japanese Americans being unjustly forced into internment camps…….paranoia at its
worst.
At the age of 20 in 1942 Bob Schopis answered
the call while young women like Ellen did their part on the home front in the
factories and other support jobs. Bob joined
the United States Marines and was deeply involved in the South Pacific Theater,
including the August 7, 1942 amphibious landing in the Battle of Guadalcanal,
one of the Solomon Islands. It was the start
of the first major allied offensive in the Pacific Theater of operations. The Japanese finally abandoned the island the
following February. Bob came back; some 416,800
never did, witness the thousands of American graves at Normandy, France.
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| Robert Schopis, U.S.
Marine Corps, about 1942. The motto of the United States Marines is “Semper Fidelis” (Always Faithful). Bob lived that motto for the rest of his life. He was always faithful to his country, his community as a scoutmaster, and later his job in quality control at Stauffer Chemical on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River after utilizing the GI Bill to obtain a degree in Chemistry from the Catholic Seton Hall University in Newark, NJ. More important, he was faithful to his wife and family of six children, even taking care of Ellen for several months during her illness four or five years ago.
At lunch after the funeral for Bob Schopis, I asked Ellen, his
widowed wife: “You were married for 70
years, what’s your secret?” “There is no
secret”, she replied in her characteristic New Jersey accent. “We made a vow, ‘Until death do us
part’. We worked things out. Marriage is like a roller coaster. There’s ups and downs, twists and
turns.” In other words, be faithful and
adapt.
The
most important of all, Bob was faithful to God and His Church from Catholic
grade and high school to his death. He
was brought up in a Catholic culture that we must restore in our families. For 70 years this beautiful couple aged
together and were fixtures at the 8 o’clock Mass………no flimsy excuses; they were
there EVERY SUNDAY because it is a SERIOUS OBLIGATION to God. Thank you, Bob for serving our country and being
a model for us of quiet faithfulness.
Bob was a railroad enthusiast whether model miniatures or the
real thing. In lieu of flowers, he
directed contributions to the restoration of the old Gallipolis railroad
station complete with a steam engine, passenger car, and a caboose. Fr. Thomas Hamm, our pastor, beautifully
utilized his hobby in the homily. “Bob
stayed on track”. May we also stay on
track on our journey to eternity.
The motto of the United States Marines is “Semper Fidelis” (Always
Faithful). Bob lived that motto
for the rest of his life. He was always
faithful to his country, his community as a scoutmaster, and later his job in
quality control at Stauffer Chemical on the West Virginia side of the Ohio
River after utilizing the GI Bill to obtain a degree in Chemistry from the
Catholic Seton Hall University in Newark, NJ.
More important, he was faithful to his wife and family of six children,
even taking care of Ellen for several months during her illness four or five years
ago.
At lunch after the funeral for Bob Schopis, I asked Ellen, his
widowed wife: “You were married for 70
years, what’s your secret?” “There is no
secret”, she replied in her characteristic New Jersey accent. “We made a vow, ‘Until death do us
part’. We worked things out. Marriage is like a roller coaster. There’s ups and downs, twists and
turns.” In other words, be faithful and
adapt.
The
most important of all, Bob was faithful to God and His Church from Catholic
grade and high school to his death. He
was brought up in a Catholic culture that we must restore in our families. For 70 years this beautiful couple aged
together and were fixtures at the 8 o’clock Mass………no flimsy excuses; they were
there EVERY SUNDAY because it is a SERIOUS OBLIGATION to God. Thank you, Bob for serving our country and being
a model for us of quiet faithfulness.
Bob was a railroad enthusiast whether model miniatures or the
real thing. In lieu of flowers, he
directed contributions to the restauration of the old Gallipolis railroad
station complete with a steam engine, passenger car, and a caboose. Fr. Thomas Hamm, our pastor, beautifully
utilized his hobby in the homily. “Bob
stayed on track”. May we also stay on
track on our journey to eternity.
His
son Paul gave a beautiful eulogy at the burial of his father at St. Louis
Church Cemetery that gives further insights into this member of the Great
Generation.
Eulogy
to Bob Schopis By His Son, Paul
“Good morning and welcome, on behalf of my family and
myself. I want to thank all of you for
coming here today to help celebrate the life of my father, Robert Schopis and
to pay our last respects to him. As his son, I've spent some time reflecting on
how to sum up in just a few moments 97 years of living, and at nearly a
century’s duration, what a life it was.
He
was born in 1921, to a working class family. He was only 8 years old when the
Great Depression started. I remember him telling me that during those years
receiving the luxury of an orange and peanuts for Christmas gifts was
considered fortunate, as many people were going hungry. His family put forth their best effort for his
education and he was able to attend St. Benedict’s prep school.
When World War II broke out, and he was called up for
military service, he joined the Marines, trained at Paris Island and was
deployed to Guadalcanal. Like many men
of his generation, he didn’t talk much about the war itself, rather he talked
about getting there and back, his time at Santa Barbara and maybe a few observational
anecdotes such as watching aerial combat above the islands, but he almost never
talked about his involvement in the fighting, except to say it was an ugly
business and he didn’t like to think about it.
He came home, met my mother, and they married. They produced 6 offspring, his work brought
him here to Southeast Ohio, far from the urban environment he was accustomed
to.
Like most people, he was a complex and complicated
person. He had a great regard for learning
and was truly curious and inquiring about the world around him and how things
worked. He loved reading about history
and enjoyed classical music. On the
other hand, much to the chagrin of my mother, he thoroughly enjoyed Benny Hill,
sophomoric as it was. He had a generally serious demeanor, but thoroughly
enjoyed “playing” with his model trains. And boy did he love trains. It would be difficult to remember a family
vacation that somehow didn’t involve railroad rides, visits to railroad
museums, visits to hobby shops that specialized in model railroading or a
combination of all of the above.
He didn’t wear his heart on his sleeve, and was
uncomfortable with public displays of affection or emotion. I remember when my older brother Bob graduated
from law school. We were standing in Mershon
Auditorium’s lobby and my brother was moved to hug dad. I thought he would have the big one right
there and then. On the other hand, when
my oldest son Seth was born, mom and he came to visit and he patted me on the
shoulder, and gave me “that” look. He
didn’t have to say what he meant; I knew it.
“You’re one of us now; you’re in the club; better buckle up; it’s going
to be a wild ride”.
But if there is one thing I want to remember about dad,
it is his integrity. He was one of the
most honest people I know. He was honest
in all of his financial dealings; he was considerate of others; and he was
intellectually honest. And if one has a
legacy, he can claim that as his. On the
last point, I can cite a few examples.
First, his family, like many of the day, held racially
biased attitudes. Despite the fact that
he grew up in a household where that was the prevailing attitude, he came to
the conclusion that bigotry was wrong. As children, we were prohibited from ever using
a racial slur in our house. If we did,
it was a good way to get our mouth washed out with soap. Parents still did that back then. My point is: that through his own efforts and
listening to individuals such as Dr. Martin Luther King, he realized how wrong
racial bigotry was.
He maintained that intellectual honesty well into his
advanced years. In our turbulent and
ever evolving times, he continued to read and reevaluate his views and
thinking.
Lastly, when it came to his
family, he brought his A game; he gave it his best. He did what he thought was right and as we,
his children, approached the age of reason, he let us become ourselves, and for
that, Pop I thank you.”
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