The Circle of Life Around Amelia

The Findlay Republican-Courier, March 16, 1965, carried the obituary of Theodore Drewes, the intended husband of Amelia when young and the father of Alvin.  
It depicted a lonely life. 














Alvin Spoering was born January 21, 1921, in Henry County.  His obituary was located on the site for the funeral home that served the family.  He died in Traverse City, Michigan on June 13, 2010.

ALVIN SPOERING.  
TRAVERSE CITY.
Alvin H. "Al" Spoering, C.P.A., passed aw"ay peacefully Sunday, June 13, 2010, in the presene of family members at Munson Medical Center, at the age of 89.  Al was born Jan. 21, 1921, in Napoleon, Ohio.  After high school, Al moved with his family from Napoleon to Traverse City.  There he met Elinore Lyle; they were married in 1942.

Al served honorably in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II.  After the war, he attended Michigan State University where he received a degree in accounting.  Later, Al earned certification as a Certified Public Accountant.
He worked in the pipeline industry in Michigan and Ohio for over 20 years before retiring as the Treasurer of Mid-America/Welded Construction in 1983.

In retirement, Al and Elinore moved back to Traverse City.  He was an avid golfer and achieved two holes in one.  He also enjoyed playing bridge, walking through Old Mission Peninsula, and working in his beautiful backyard gardens.  For the last year of his life, Al  was a resident of Orchard Creek Assisted Living. 

Al is survived by  his wife, Elinore of Traverse City, sons, Charlie (Kathy) of Cadillac, John (Hilda) of Holland, Mich., and Tom (Jane Anne) of Calgary, Canada.  He leaves six grandchildren..., and six great-grandchildren.In addition, Al is survived by a step-brother, Julian Schlagel of Williamsburg; a half-brother, LeRoy Schlagel of Traverse City, and numerous nieces and nephews.  He was preceded in death by a step-brother, Jerry Schlagel.

His wife, Elinore Charlote (Lyle) Spoering passed away peacefully on July 6, 2019 at the age of 94.  She and Alvin were married for 68 years.  In 2016, she moved into assisted living.  She was also a golfer and a bridge player, as well as a traveler.  She loved her Boston Terriers. " 


As mentioned in the previous blog, Amelia cared for two stepsons, Julian and Jerry Schlagel.  Jerry Jacob Schlagel, born on November 21, 1925, married Elizabeth Jane Rokes in 1948. Julian Henry, born October 15, 1923, married Loree Stevens on July 31, 1948.  

An obituary could not be found for Jerry at this time, but Julian's appeared in the Traverse City Record-Eagle on July 19, 2012.

A side note on the mother of Julian and Jerry - Christine Hogrefe Schlagel Onyon:
Her obituary:  "Napoleon - Mrs. Christine Onyon, 60, 332 Front St., died Sunday in her home of an apparent heart attack.  A lifelong area resident, she was born in Henry County to Henry and Minnie (Marksch) Hogrefe and married Clifford Onyon.  He died in 1948.  She had been employed as a domestic for a number of years.
Surviving are two sons, Eugene Onyon, Napoleon, and Julian Schlagel, Traverse City, Mich.; a brother, Henry Hogrefe, Napoleon, and a sister, Miss Doris Hogrefe, Los Angeles, Calif....Burial will be in Forest Home Cemetery.

 
Amelia and Henry's son, LeRoy
served in the military, as did all of his
brothers.  













  Sidetracking...
 

 We will go down a path away from the family now to reveal a story concerning Henry Schlagel's first wife, Hulda Kaiser Spoering, and her second husband.  Henry and Hulda had no children and divorced rather quickly.  The divorce was final on April 19, 1921, and on May 4, 1921, Hulda married Arthur L. Scott who was 17 years her senior.  Arthur had also been married once before, although he did not mention that on the marriage registration.  They were soon divorced, and Arthur would go on to marry three more times, all short-lived relationships...five wives in total.  Hulda would marry once more to William Hazen and they lived in Indiana, where she died in 1986.  She was buried in Wauseon Cemetery.

But the story here lies with Arthur L. Scott who called himself an interior decorator on the censuses, but he was also an inventor and all around entrepreneur.  The invention that made the papers in Detroit involved a water walking suit.  Once, while working on a cruise ship, he noticed that some birds seemed to be able to walk on the water.  He reasoned that man should have the ability to do that in case of an accident on the water. ( Arthur could not swim himself.)   He came up with a suit that he felt would keep him above water.  It was equipped with a flashlight in the shoulder and various pockets for food and water.  


On July 4, 1941, he tested his invention on the Detroit River.  He promised that the suit would not leak any water and that he would be perfectly dry when he finished his walk to Belle Isle.  The press was invited, of course.

Was he successful?  










Read on...

Arthur died soon after this experiment, on November 20, 1947.  The Traverse City Record-Eagle reported:

"Arthur L. Scott died this morning at the Boardman Valley Hospital.  He was 61 years old. Mr. Scott was born at Marion, January 18, 1883, and for the past two years has resided at 853 East Eighth Street.  He served in World War I with Detachment of Patients in General Hospital No. 43 and, after his discharge from the army, made his home in Detroit.
Mr. Scott was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Detroit.  The body was taken to the Sampson Funeral Home where services will be held Saturday afternoon at two thirty.  Burial will be in Oakwood Cemetery."

No family?
 
Sometimes a story just demands telling.  Excuse my digression.