Celebrating the life of
James Schweger
23 Apr 1939 - 28 Feb 2021Family and friends
Join Memories to request access to contribute your cherished photos, videos, and stories to James's memorial with others who loved them.
Join MemoriesFamily and friends
Join Memories to request access to contribute your cherished photos, videos, and stories to James's memorial with others who loved them.
Join MemoriesGail Smith James Schweger was born to Esther May Vancalster and Boyd Bernard (Bud) Schweger on April 23rd, 1939 on the West side of Green Bay, WI. Born to “older parents” at the time (early 30s), Esther and Bud doted on their perfectly handsome little boy called, “Jimmy.” Esther spent 10 days in the hospital (as was customary at the time) and had a final bill for $77.20.
Jimmy’s best friend for the first 10 years of his life was his beloved grandmother, Leontine, who was born in Belgium in 1886. Leontine spoke a French/Dutch dialect called “Walloon” and lived with the Schweger family. Jim remembered fondly his grandma making wine from grapes in the yard, butchering a pig’s head for head cheese in the basement, ...
Gail Smith Christmas 1947, with dad (Bud) mom (Esther) and sister (Jeannie).
Gail Smith 4th grade class.
Attending Green Bay Packer games was a regular outing for the family in the 1940s-50s, where inevitably a relative had a nearby parking spot in their driveway. In those days it was common to see the players working part-time jobs around town and even his mother was at one time in a social group that included Vince Lombardi’s wife. Jim proudly wor...
Gail Smith The Schwegers purchased a summer cabin on the shores of Green Bay (Little Suamico) where Jim could excel in his love of swimming, fishing, and boating. As a young teen, he built small hydroplanes, tinkered with engines, and challenged his friends and family to ride behind on skis or even an old ironing board!
His father was an avid outdoorsman who had Jimmy tag along for various hunting and fishing expeditions. It was a good thing that his mother, Esther, was apt in the kitchen at preparing anything from venison to goose, or whatever was brought home from the adventure.
Gail Smith Graduation From West High School.
Gail Smith Jim went on to enter the University of Wisconsin in the department of mechanical engineering, where one semester he struggled mightily, sinking below the grade average required for student housing. After Jim returned to the comfort of home for one semester, his father personally drove him back to Madison, setting him up with housing at the YMCA.
Gail Smith During his trips back and forth from Madison to Green Bay, Jim met a one-time paying customer for a ride home to the east side of Green Bay. Nancy Klann was smitten with Jim’s movie star good looks and dry sense of humor. A future engineer wasn’t a bad catch either! The summer after graduation, Jim found himself saying “I do” at the First Congregational Church and celebrating at a lovely summer reception in the Klann’s backyard. That afternoon, the young couple hopped in a 1954 Ford (a $50 purchase from his uncle) and headed west to the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair.
Gail Smith The young newlyweds! A first job working for the U.S. Navy on aircraft carrier design in the exciting city of San Francisco proved a stimulating place for the newlyweds to live. A slightly used, $800 convertible, 5-speed, Austin Healy was deemed a solid car for them to traverse the hilly terrain!
Gail Smith As the Vietnam war raged in the background, and at 26 years of age with a pregnant wife, Jim soon found himself in a new job as a mechanical engineer for Crown Zellerbach paper in Port Townsend, WA, thus avoiding a formal draft notice. Jim delighted in his first child, Gail, and spent many hours documenting every move with a new Super 8 movie camera.
Gail Smith Jim’s true passion was hunting and fishing weekends with dear friends. Setting up camp in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, smoking pipes with cherry tobacco, eating Hershey chocolate bars, and bringing home something for Nancy to put in the freezer was considered an excellent weekend. Running boats with various motors on the Puget Sound, trolling for Salmon, crabbing, and gathering clams and oysters were all a part of the rugged lifestyle.
Gail Smith A promotion and transfer to Eureka, California came next, along with a garage and workshop big enough for Jim to build his dream fishing boat with a 17-foot wooden hull.
Gail Smith 2nd daughter Laura came along about the time of the moon landing and Super 8 movies continued to document the activities of the family, with visits from grandparents and lots of film showing various cars, engines, boats and salmon hauls from the Pacific Ocean.
Gail Smith Life in Eureka, CA.
Gail Smith The Great Race - By Pat & Chuck Hoover Jim had purchased a Model A Ford sedan. As I recall the car was for his father’s collection. Anyway, Jim had a friend with another old car and they decided to meet at the landing strip across the bay from Eureka. After the usual comparisons, walkaround and look under the hoods they came up with the idea of a drag race. This between a 1930 Ford and a 1920 Dort (yes “Dort”) touring car. The Ford barely won the quarter mile race, which was not timed. The event was reported in the Pulp Mill news letter as the weirdest drag race ever.
Gail Smith Another promotion and move to Vancouver, WA followed with a home “out in the sticks” complete with a field and forest on 5 acres. Jim promptly built a bridge across the creek, a workshop and barn to house chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, and a pony for the girls. A real treehouse with tall ladder especially delighted daughter, Laura!
Gail Smith Jim could fix nearly everything around the house as well as maintaining all vehicles and small engines on the property. One year, Jim counted over 50 engines (including lawn mowers, rototiller, go-kart, chainsaws, etc.) that he maintained. He also took very good care of Nancy’s widowed mother, Beatrice, keeping her car running, oil changed, and any other maintenance task.
Gail Smith In 1977 Jim and Nancy purchased a WW2 era cabin on stilts with 2 outhouses on the shores of Lake Pend Orielle near Sandpoint, Idaho. Jim’s true joy was fishing for hours at a time for perch, using worms, and then properly scaling and filleting his catch to enjoy fried up just like in the old days in Wisconsin. Jim and Nancy have caught thousands of fish that have been savored by friends and family over the years.
Gail Smith Jim was interested in many things at this stage of his life. Besides workshop projects and car restorations, he enjoyed gardening, scuba-diving, skiing (water and snow), and flying. Jim obtained his pilot’s license during these productive years.
Gail Smith Some of Jim’s notable projects in the 70s-80s included restoring a 1957 XK140 Jaguar convertible, and a 1962 Austin Healy. Jim and Nancy joined various auto clubs and enjoyed weekend drives and car shows throughout the Pacific Northwest and Arizona. Jim also collected historic firearms, including war rifles and bayonets. Jim could tell you in minute detail about every gun he owned and what battle they were used in.
Gail Smith Retirement suited Jim perfectly as he had so many hobbies and interests. His final career position was as Plant Engineer with the James River Paper Company in Camas, WA.
Jim was interested in all things historical (particularly WW2) and any type of travel included museum visits, abandoned airfields, military museums, air shows and more. Jim never stopped learning and had the remarkable ability to remember very specific facts and details about all things mechanical. Over the years, Jim went along with Nancy’s trav...
Gail Smith In the 1990s Jim became a grandpa to David & Tori and made himself available for babysitting, playing cards (Gin was a favorite), and watching Sponge Bob for the thousandth time while eating M&Ms. Grandsons James and Charlie followed in the mid-2000s with more activities and events to attend. Jim had all the grandpa big toys - a go kart, water toys, racetracks, sand piles with old metal Tonka trucks and workshops full of possibilities.
Gail Smith After looking at a reference book about dogs, Jim declared the West Highland White Terrier the cutest, and stuck with the breed, along with Scottish Terriers the rest of his life. His beloved “Megan” was particularly special, following him loyally while he worked in the yard, various garages and workshops.
The next move included a retirement home in Bend, OR with beautiful views of the 3-Sisters mountains. Jim designed their home on a hill where the lower level included an auto and wood-working shop with places for sanding, painting, etc. and a room devoted to his historic gun collection. It was at this time that Jim started restoring antique outbo...
Motor-homing entered the picture about this time, with the desire to see Alaska and various sites around the country. Jim deduced that the cost of traveling by a modest motorhome was more than staying at a 5-star hotel every night but went along with Nancy’s desire to “see the road.” Once that was out of their system, they settled on a smaller fo...
As Jim’s heath declined in the past few years due to heart disease, they “down-sized” to a smaller Bend home in daughter, Laura’s neighborhood, selling their collectible cars, guns, and motors. The antique Jaguar ended up in Germany, with a new owner so impressed with Jim’s detailed maintenance logs that he and his team of engineers named the car,...
Gail Smith 50th Anniversary!
Gail Smith 80th birthday celebration!
Gail Smith Christmas season - a dinner and show in Seattle with Gail & Dave, David, Tori, Matt, Nancy and Jim.
Gail Smith Summers in Idaho continued to be a special place where Jim maintained all aspects of their summer home. Boats, motors, roofs, docks, and landscaping were all projects to be tended. Rides in his red, MG convertible, fishing, huckleberry picking, boat outings, card games, and dinner on the water were all greatly enjoyed during this past summer.