Richard A. Schreiber

Richard A. Schreiber, 83, of Morgantown, West Virginia, passed into the loving arms of God while at Heritage Point Alzheimer's Special Care Center in Mishawaka, Indiana on July 28 with his wife, Shirley, and his daughter, Sarah Prince, at his bedside.

He was born in Havre de Grace, MD on April 20, 1934. He attended a one room school house in first grade in Perryville, MD before moving with his family at age seven to Knoxville, IA. He graduated high school in Knoxville in 1952 and entered Central College in Pella, IA where he won, in a competitive test, a four year full tuition scholarship. He established and operated a photographic studio on campus while attending school. He participated in college dramatics, running team, staff photographer for the weekly school paper, co-business manager of the school yearbook and contributing photographer. In summer of 1954 he worked for the U.S. Forest Service as a pest control crewman and firefighter in the Coeur d'Alene National Forest, ID.

He enlisted in the US Army on May 31, 1955. After training he served as a US Army photographer in Germany until his discharge in May, 1958. He traveled around Europe for a year and enrolled in the University of Heidelberg for a semester. He returned to the U.S., finished his senior year at Central College and graduated in 1960. In 1962, he earned a Master's Degree in Journalism from the University of Iowa. In 1973, he earned his PhD in Advertising and Research Methods from the University of Missouri. Due to his research, Motorcycle Magazine changed its name to Motorcyclist Magazine. He did advertising for the School of Osteopathy in Des Moines, IA and worked for an advertising company in Minneapolis.

His teaching career began at Morehead State University and at Kent State University he started their Advertising Department. He saw the shooting of four Kent State students by the National Guard on May 4, 1970. He saved a journalism student from being shot and killed and was a witness for the Grand Jury.

He also taught Advertising at the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to DeKalb, IL where he taught Advertising at Northern State University and became a tenured professor.

He left the teaching field and worked for Hewitt Associates, LLC in Chicago as a consultant.

Eventually he returned to teaching at Bradley University in the Communications Dept. He also started his own company, Schreiber and Associates, LTD working mainly in Organizational Development.

His love of theatre led him to a part in the Peoria Civic Ballet's "Nutcracker Fantasy". He danced the part of Grandfather and met his future wife, Shirley Scheer, who was the artistic director. He accompanied the Amherst Ballet Theatre, Amherst MA in 1987 on their Yugoslavian Performance Tour as company photographer and stagehand.

In 1988 he accepted a job of Advertising Head in West Virginia University's Journalism School in Morgantown. He and his wife got married in their own living room by Rev. Dick Fiete with their family and the Dean of the J School, Guy Stewart and his wife, Pat, present.

Dick's passion was aviation. He owned three planes in his lifetime, a Piper Cherokee, a home-built Sonari and a Grumman Traveler. He held a private pilot and a commercial license. His loving wife, Shirley, also has a private pilot license, and they spent many hours flying over the hills and mountains of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He was a member of the Morgantown Pilots Association, serving as its president. He was a member of the Illinois Civil Air Patrol and Commanding Officer of the Morgantown Civil Air Patrol. He was part of the Search and Rescue team and in Ona, WV he carried the remains of a female passenger plane crash down from a mountain in a body bag. He was a consultant on the first Tighar expedition to find Amelia Earhart's airplane. He traveled to Fiji to work with the dive team and the ground team

He was a member of the Downtown Rotary Club, BNI and was faculty sponsor of the Advertising Club in the Journalism School. He was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, serving as a Deacon for 12 years. He co-wrote the Mustard Seed Project proposal for the church and received a $25,000 grant to recruit new members. He and his wife danced in WVPT's summer production of "Sound of Music".  They traveled to Toronto with then Governor of WV, Gaston Caperton and his wife Rachael Worby in order to represent WVPT on a promotional and publicity tour.

In his retirement he became a Long Term Insurance agent for General Electric Capital. Dick was an avid motorcyclist and owned a 1965 BMW. He rode 53,000 miles without falling once. He also rode his bicycle on many 40 mile trips on the Rails to Trails. He was a gun collector who refused to hunt wildlife. He preferred to "shoot" objects and people with his many cameras.

He loved the outdoors, especially on their mountain property in Harman, WV, where he cleared land and planted over one hundred trees. Dick was president of the High Mountain Owners Association and he served as secretary of the Beaver Ridge Resort Condominiums in Canaan Valley for 12 years.

Dick enjoyed life to the fullest. He had a sharp intellect and a quick wit, and he had a handy facility with words. He loved to putter around his garage workshop. His motto was, "If it ain't fun, don't do it"! He loved to attend the Presbyterian Men's Breakfast Group twice a month. He was a proud owner of three rescue dogs, Magnum, Kayla and Colonel.

He and Shirley enjoyed their travels to Italy twice and Ireland before the onset of Frontotemporal Degeneration Dementia.

Dick is survived by his wife, Shirley Scheer Schreiber; a son from a previous marriage, John Schreiber and his wife Sue of Champagne, IL; daughter, Sarah Prince and her husband Kenneth of Mishawaka, IN; stepson, Chris Geczy and his wife Nichole of Newtown Square, PA; grandchildren, Andrea Gumbel, Rachel Schreiber, Isaak Prince and Tobias Prince; step grandchildren, Alex Geczy and Claudia Geczy; and great granddaughter, Ainsley Gumbel.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edna Sheridan Schreiber and Arthur Hermann Schreiber, and a sister, Joan Schreiber Winterberg.

The family wishes to thank Julie Osberger for her loving care as his "luncheon date", the staff and caregivers of Heritage Point Alzheimer's Special Care Center for their devotion to his care and to Hospice for their tender and loving care.

A Memorial Service to celebrate Dick's life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church, Morgantown, WV, on Saturday, September 9 at 3 p.m. Visitation 2-3 p.m. A reception will follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to First Presbyterian Church, 456 Spruce St, Morgantown, WV, 26505.

Arrangements are by Goethals & Wells Funeral Home, Mishawaka, Indiana.