1973
THE SCHLAVER CHRISTMAS CHIMES
400 S. I-Oka Ave. December 25, 1973 Mt. Prospect, Ill.
A Merry Christmas and Happy New Year To All
CHRISTMAS PAST--Now president of the Mt. Prospect Historical Society, C.O. has decided that a trip down memory lane through review of our past Christmas letters is appropriate before chronicling 1973.
1954--Marcia, now 6, has lost her two front teeth... David, now 12, is piano-happy... Paul, 9, has a pet duck, Dilly, as we reside at 302 N. Elmhurst Ave. in Mt. Prospect after moving from Rogers Park... Dad is on the village board as a trustee. Outside of taking care of a two-story, seven-room house and figuring out the family finances, mother hasn't a thing to do.
1955--Our old home of pleasant memories, the apple orchard and big yard was sold to the Northwest Covenant church and we switched to a new ranch house at 400 S. I-Oka on Dec. 13. It was first communion year for Marcia and David won the school spelling championship. We vacationed at Estes Park.
1956--Dad has often been busy riding planes as Office Appliance magazine M.E. on trips to Wyoming, Texas and Canada. The boys built up savings by wearing out the family lawn mower on customers' lawns when not playing with Tom and Bill Peeters. Marcia joined David in the piano lesson department.
1958--Our first glimpse of awesome Grand Canyon, logs turned into stone at Petrified Forest, and the colorful pinnacles in Bryce Canyon where Marcia was more interested in feeding the ground squirrels than looking at the scenery. Dad's objectives on the village board were a new fire truck and another well.
1959--Betty's hopes for a mink stole were diverted into a little black Austin A55 which David drove to Notre Dame High School for Boys with freshman Paul sitting beside him as navigator. Paul and Dad attended the Lions International convention in New York City.
1960--David off to the University of Notre Dame, Betty "tellering" at the Mt. Prospect State Bank, Paul "summering" at a golf pro shop and Marcia a year away from teenage status.
1961--C.O. new editor of The QUILL for Sigma Delta Chi and elected Village President (Mayor) of Mt. Prospect, a four-year term. He continued working on Saturday nights on the copy desk of Chicago's American sports department where both sons were employed as copy boys.
1962--David has decided that the Holy Cross Order is to be his life work and Paul intends to enroll at the university with the golden dome next fall. Marcia is a freshman at Regina High in Wilmette. Exciting Randhurst was opened by Mayor Schlaver and Betty went to the First National Bank there as note teller.
1963--We spent Thanksgiving with David at the Sacred Heart Novitiate in Jordan, Minn. Paul paraded with the "Fifing Irish" for the N.D.-Syracuse game in New York. Dad and mother were in Norfolk, Va. for the Sigma Delta Chi convention where a highlight was going aboard the nuclear-powered U.S.S. Enterprise aircraft carrier. Marcia took to French and art at Regina High with far more zest than household chores.
1964--Marcia reached "Sweet Sixteen" status, wore contact lenses and pestered us for driving lessons. Two-hour trips to N.D. to see our sons occupied many of the Sundays. Four of us visited Isabelle Stauffer in Princeton, N.J. and had sore feet touring the much-maligned World's Fair.
1966--C.O. underwent an LBJ-type of operation in the spring and afterwards said he was ready to go like sixty after 60. Paul sought daily commissions during the summer at Ward's in Randhurst while the checkout counter at Jewell Food Store was Marcia's post. Paul was named general chairman for Notre Dame's annual U.S. Jazz festival and David was an assistant editor of Ave Maria magazine.
1967--A delayed 25th wedding anniversary visit for C.O. and Betty took them to San Francisco during a Sigma Delta Chi awards meeting and on to San Diego in the Copley plane where they saw Ross and Gano Anderson. Paul was making daily trips to the law library at Boston College where he was a student.
1968--Paul became a VISTA volunteer in Cleveland where he met his future wife, Diana. Marcia, reaching age 20, had a "sparkling" Christmas announcement--her engagement to Mark Steffens, business course major at Loyola.
1969--Marcia was a Christmas season bride on Dec. 27 and Paul married Diana the previous June. David was in The Netherlands for further study and deaconship, preaching in Dutch.
1970--A reunion for Dad and Mother with David at Amsterdam and a three-week Volkswagen trip through Europe which covered 2,800 miles and touched eight countries. We saw Paris, famed cathedrals, Vienna and Swiss-Italian Alps.
1971--We greeted our first grandson, Matthew Boyd Steffens, born without a brogue on St. Patrick's day. David returned to the States and was ordained at Notre Dame on Dec. 17, preceding Masses of Thanksgiving at Christ the King, South Bend, and at St. Raymond's in Mt. Prospect. Retired involuntary at 65 as editor of The QUILL, C.O. became editor of the American Press and later M.E. of Automatic Merchandiser at Wilmette as a journalism career of more than 45 years neared termination.
AND NOW TO CHRISTMAS PRESENT, 1973:
A highlight was the birth of our second grandson, Benjamin Andrew, born March 8 to Paul and Diana living in the cranberry and Pilgrim country near Plymouth, Mass. C.O. was busy in his first year as executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, rustling up 58 new members... 1973 was an exciting year for Marcia, Mark and lively little Matthew Steffens, occupying a Mediterranean-style home in nearby Park Ridge... Grandma Cronau, with us during much of the year and enjoying good health at 82, makes an occasional plane trip to visit the Coplans in the East... David became Director of Student Activities at the University of Notre Dame while also serving as rector at Dillon Hall and addressing various Notre Dame alumni clubs... Enjoyed by C.O. and Betty was the 50th reunion of his high school class at Sparta and a picnic of his mother's clan.
Betty and C.O.
