Sterling lost a great newspaperman, and many of us lost a wonderful friend, when Ron Schafer died on March 3. Doug Wiersema did an excellent job in his guest column on March 12 recounting the 20-plus years of Ron’s tenure as editor of the Gazette. I had forgotten some of the special challenges that he met head-on. He was an extremely principled man who did not waiver from his strong beliefs.
I do have to tease Doug a little about saying Ron was “only a little over 5 feet tall.” In reality, Ron was 5 feet 8 inches but, when provoked, seemed closer to 6 feet 5 inches.
My wife, Gerry, and I were fortunate to have Ron and Jill Schafer as close friends for more than 40 years. Ron and I attended hundreds of Sterling athletic events. The Schafer children were outstanding athletes.
Who in attendance will ever forget Ryan scoring five touchdowns against mighty Geneseo? We were also there in Champaign when Ryan won the state wrestling title.
Doug placed 2 years in the state meet and was an All-American in college.
Beth was on the basketball team that won the first girls state title. She also ran on a 440-yard relay team that went to state.
Lori and my girls were in school about the time the state of Illinois was allowing girls athletics. Beth always said Lori was extremely fast and would have been a state contender.
Ron was very proud of his family but rarely bragged about them.
Ron and Jill were super parents and wonderful friends. Ron, we miss you and always will.
Note to readers – James Swanson was mayor of Sterling from 1979 to 1983.