Donald Laverne Schriefer married Sister Sue in 1950. He not only tolerated pesky ten year-old me, he actively exposed me to opportunities. First family member to attend college he and Sue let me spend time with the two of them at The University of Illinois which opened my eyes to a world farm kid me did not know existed.
Raised during the Great Depression Don was drafted during World War II before graduation from High School. Discharged in 1945, after serving in Germany, opportunities arose. Thanks to his maturity Herscher High School won the 1945 Vermillion Valley Conference Basketball Championship. Don then used the GI Bill to attend The University of Illinois where he set the University record by running the mile in four minutes fifteen seconds. To earn money to eat each day he ran over to serve at a sorority while supplementing his diet by eating game trapped and hunted in nearby woods -- while earning A grades when grade inflation did not exist.
A superb teacher of modern scientific agriculture Don reached past Sheldon High School, where he was employed, to conduct one of the largest educational programs for farmers in Illinois. He was a pioneer in relating tillage to fertility through aeration, residue decay, soil testing, accurate fertilization that led to major changes in design of tillage tools and farming practices.
On a lighter side he was a bit of a joker and convinced his children, Linda, Donald Jr. and Pamela that the grain elevators in Sheldon were largest in the world. He did all the above while building a house each year on Bradley Street. Final year in Sheldon Don was both High School Principal and Mayor.
Advanced Agriculture of America, based just across the border in DeMotte, Indiana was his third vocation. Flying his Piper Cherokee, with Sue as Copilot and Business Manager, Don flew around the nation and Canada managing farms in ways that operationalized modern scientific farming practices. A man of honor, when a partner absconded with customer's money, Don personally made victims whole. Terms now commonplace like "crop and soil weather proofing, row support systems, zone of updraft" were originally inspired by Don.
Don Schriefer, my Brother in Law and mentor, passed from this life way too soon on July 30, 1998. The world is a better place because he was here.