Dr. Brockman Schumacher Sr., 85, passed away Friday, August 28, 2009, at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota, of congestive heart failure.
Dr. Schumacher was born August 26, 1924, in St. Louis, Missouri, the son of Fred and Marguerite (Brockman) Schumacher and grew up on St. Ferdinand Ave. across the street from the descendents of Dredd Scott. He was a World War II Army veteran, a Sergeant and medic in the Philippines.
He graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.S. in Psychology. There he met Doris Goodman, whom he married in New York City on July 20, 1948. He earned his M.A. Ed. and Ph.D in clinical psychology at Washington University in St. Louis where he raised his family.
The Schumacher family attended All Saints Episcopal Church. He was a third-generation teacher in his family and first taught sixth grade at Kinloch, Mo. Later, he taught basic literacy to WW II veterans at Vashon High school.
Dr. Schumacher was a pioneer of vocational rehabilitation and started the Vocational Rehabilitation Department at St. Louis State Mental Hospital, the first rehabilitation program for mental patients in Missouri. He was the first African American appointed to be department head at St. Louis State Hospital. In St. Louis, he opened the first urban halfway house in the United States. He later worked at the Human Development Corps in the city and taught psychology at Webster College (now Webster University).
Dr. Schumacher became a Professor at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois from 1968 until his retirement in 1993, and Professor Emeritus until his death. The first African American professor in the Rehabilitation Institute at Southern Illinois University, he served as Director of the Counselor Training Program in and became Full Professor in 1973. From 1983 to 1984, Dr. Schumacher served as Acting Director of the Rehabilitation Institute at the request of his peers following the tragic airline death of the chairman, Dr. Jerome Lorenz. After a new chairman was found, he resumed his position as Director of Counseling until 1993. Dr. Schumacher advised more than 70 Masters and 20 Doctoral students during his tenure at SIU.
Dr. Schumacher provided Vocational Expert consulting to Federal Social Security Courts for over 20 years. He also served on the Federal Review Board for the determination of national psychological research grants. He was President of the Council on Rehabilitation Education and was a chairman of the Mary E. Switzer Memorial Fund to expand and enrich services to persons with disabilities. Other memberships included the Board of Directors of the National Rehabilitation Association; and Governor’s Appointee to the Illinois Board of Mental Health Commissioners. He lectured widely and published numerous books, papers and articles.
In 2007, Brockman and Doris moved to Minneapolis, Minn. to be closer to their sons and grandchildren. They celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary this year.
In addition to his wife, Brockman is survived by his three sons, Brockman Schumacher Jr. and wife, Nancy Zalusky-Berg, of Minneapolis, Andrew Schumacher and wife, Nancy, of San Anselmo, Calif. and Douglass Schumacher and wife, Ruth Linehan, of Upper Arlington, Ohio; and grandsons, Brockman Schumacher III, Noah Schumacher, Jackson Schumacher and Zachary Paul.
He was preceded in death by his parents, infant brother, and Aunt, Dorothea Brockman, who raised him after the death of his mother Marguerite.