Obituary of The-Rev. -John-R. Schroeder

PORTSMOUTH - The Rev. John R. Schroeder, beloved husband and father, self-taught musician, pastor, wise counsel, and caring friend to countless northern New Englanders since the 1950s, departed this life Sunday, Oct. 23 while under treatment at Portsmouth Hospital. A longtime resident of the seacoast area, he had celebrated his 95th birthday in June and his 70th wedding anniversary in September.Born and raised in Yonkers, N.Y., Rev. Schroeder attended Syracuse University on a basketball scholarship and graduated magna cum laude in 1937. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School and was ordained as a minister of the American Baptist Churches in 1942. In the same year, he wed high school classmate Marion Louise Jones, who would remain his partner for life.He served as a naval chaplain in World War II, then taught religion and philosophy at Linfield College in Oregon for four years before pursuing postgraduate work at Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary in New York. He earned his Master's in Systematic Theology from Union under the tutelage of such seminal figures in modern theology as Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr.With his wife and three children, Rev. Schroeder first came to New England in January of 1955. His inaugural pastorate was at the First Baptist Church of New London, where he served until 1962.In June of the same year, he accepted a call to the United Baptist Church of Lewiston, Maine. There he ministered for all the years of the turbulent 1960s, nurturing a long-held association between the church and the faculty, staff, and students of Bates College, promoting ecumenism, and garnering criticism as well as praise for his vocal support of the antiwar movement and other progressive causes of the era.In 1971, Rev. Schroeder assumed the pastorate of the First Baptist Church of Melrose, Massachusetts. There as in his previous posts, he was noted for weaving humor and the voices of secular as well as biblical authors into his preaching.After retiring from Melrose in 1982 with the honorific of Pastor Emeritus, Rev. Schroeder enjoyed extensive stateside and European travel with his wife between interim pastorates in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. In all, he served nine additional parishes before retiring for good in the mid 1990s, free at last to revel without interruption in the trials and triumphs of his beloved Boston Celtics, Red Sox, and the Orangemen of Syracuse.A natural musician, Rev. Schroeder developed a unique approach to the piano, picking out melodies with his left hand and chording with the right. He was also self-taught on saxophone and ukulele, the latter a constant companion in work and play. He enjoyed popular as well as church music, and traveled from his home in Northwood to play piano and share stories with the residents of area nursing homes until within a couple of months of his death.With his signature Frisbee, porkpie hat and bright Crayola shorts, Rev. Schroeder was a fixture on the beach at Ocean Park, Maine for nearly forty summers. What began in the late 1950s with a chaplaincy at the OP youth camp evolved into a long association with the people and programs of "The Park," also the setting for nearly five decades of cherished family vacations.The Rev. Schroeder is survived by his wife, Marion; eldest daughter Johanna (Chase); son John Clayton ("Clayt"); younger daughter Linnea; five grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. A celebration of his life will take place on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 12 p.m. at the Middle St. Baptist Church, 18 Court St., Portsmouth.Over his lifetime, Rev. Schroeder supported innumerable non-profit organizations. In the last few years, he contributed to more than 25, including the Middle St. Baptist Church, of which he was a member. Among his favorites were: The American Friends Service Committee, The Carter Center (Atlanta), and the Rochester District VNA. In lieu of flowers, donations to any of these organizations may be made in his memory.To sign an online guest book please visit chadwickfuneralservice.com.