Top stories: Harold Brown passes away; community aids 85-year-old woman
As 2023 comes to a close, the News-Messenger and News Herald have been counting down the Top 10 local stories of the year, based on readers' interest and staff input. Today we continue the countdown with a look at story numbers 4 and 3 of 2023.
No. 4: Friends, community aid 85-year-old woman in keeping her home after she cannot keep working
After breaking her hip Schaar could not keep her job
The original article, by correspondent Sheri Trusty, has been updated for this Top 10 coverage.
PORT CLINTON - Good neighbors can be rare treasures, so Charlene Wiechman wants to make sure she doesn’t lose hers. When Wiechman’s neighbor, 85-year-old Beverly Schaar, could no longer afford her mortgage payments, Wiechman stepped in to help.
Schaar worked in banking in Dover before she retired and moved to Port Clinton 22 years ago. She became a familiar face to many locals during the 11 years she worked at Walmart.
“I did everything there. I did retail and apparel, and I was a cashier,” she said. “People still stop me when I’m shopping in Walmart and ask if I still work there.”
Schaar broke her hip two years ago and returned to work after she healed. But the strain of the injury made it impossible for her to stand for long periods of time, and she had to quit her job. Without the extra income, she could no longer afford to keep her home.
Without a job, Schaar was being forced to sell her home
“I thought I had enough in reserve, but without the extra money, I got to a point where I was going to have to sell my home,” she said.
Schaar began the difficult process of downsizing in preparation of the sale, all the while praying for a miracle. One day several weeks ago, Wiechman stopped by to visit and found Schaar tossing longtime mementos in the trash.
“I watched her go through things and throw her memories away. She told me she never thought she’d have to do that,” Wiechman said.
In just days, people gave $21,000 to Schaar's GoFundMe page
Wiechman partnered with Schaar’s longtime friend, JoEllen Booher, to create a GoFundMe page to raise funds to save Schaar’s house, and the community rallied around her. As of April 6, more than $21,000 of the $50,000 goal had been raised.
“I was blown away. In the first half hour, there was $600,” Booher said. “I’m in awe that so many people are so thoughtful and so caring, even the people who just give $10. It’s just unbelievable.”
Wiechman believes money was initially donated quickly because Schaar is so well-known.
“I was very surprised, but with her working at Walmart for so long, everyone knows her,” Wiechman said. “I had people donate directly, too. Somebody from Michigan mailed a $500 check, and they don’t know her. It has been amazing.”
Schaar still has a ways to go to save her home, but she is feeling hopeful for the first time in a year. Booher told her this might just be the miracle she was praying for.
“Oh my, this feels like a miracle. I’ve worried for the past year,” Schaar said. “I want to thank everyone. I’m just baffled. I can’t believe it.”
A donation page to help Schaar save her home was included at the end of the original article, but that has since been closed and a new one opened. It is available at the end of the update to this article.
On following up with Wiechman, she gave us an update on Schaar's situation for this Top 10 article.
The GoFundMe campaign was highly successful, officially raising $31,255 through the online portal.
"Yes, it bought time for her to stay in her home," Wiechman said. "Unfortunately, she owes more than what we brought in. However, this will get her by for the years to come."
A donation page to help Schaar save her home was included at the end of the original article, but that has since been closed. That page has since been reopened for the new year. The link follows.
Fundraiser by Charlene Wiechman : Help my elderly neighbor save her home (gofundme.com)
No. 3: Port Clinton's Harold Brown, a Tuskegee Airman, dies at 98
WWII hero flew 30 missions in Europe, went on to earn a doctorate degree
PORT CLINTON - Dr. Harold Brown, who flew combat missions in World War II as a member of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, died Thursday [Jan. 12] at the age of 98.
He was an original member of the Tuskegee Airmen, a select group of African-American fighter pilots who broke down barriers and played a significant role in President Harry S. Truman's decision to desegregate the nation's armed forces in 1948.
He told a group of Fremont high school and middle school students in 2019 that he was 16 and a junior in high school in Minneapolis when he saved up $35 for his first flying lessons.
"When my mother found out how I spent my money, she almost went berserk," Brown joked.
Flew the iconic red-tailed P-51 Mustang
He enlisted at age 17 and was trained in the Tuskegee Institute’s segregated pilot training program. He served with the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying the iconic red-tailed P-51 Mustang with the famed 332nd Fighter Group.
"We were the best-kept secret. Nobody had heard of us," Brown said of the airmen, who have become more well-known in recent decades.
His first combat mission took place June 6, 1944. He served in the European theater, flying 30 missions over Germany, Austria and southern Europe. His plane was shot down in the winter of 1945 and he was threatened by a group of angry Austrian villagers and taken prisoner.
"I knew I was going to die," Brown told the News-Messenger in 2015, remembering the mob of 30 to 35 angry, German-speaking villagers that surrounded him. But a local constable intervened, loading a single round in his rifle and fending off the angry mob.
His military service spanned 23 years, ending in 1965 when he retired at the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Brown retired to Port Clinton with his wife, Dr. Marsha Bordner, retired president of Terra State Community College and co-author of Brown's 2017 autobiography, "Keep Your Airspeed Up,"
During the war, Brown flew mostly as a bomber escort but also completed five strafing missions. Strafing missions, he said in “Keep Your Airspeed Up,” were exciting but the most dangerous flying he was commanded to do.
“If I shot something that had an explosive on it, the (train) car would blow, and I would say, ‘Good deal!’”
Shot down over Austria on final strafing mission
Brown was flying his last strafing mission in 1945 when his plane was heavily damaged by enemy fire, and he was forced to bail out in Nazi territory and taken as a prisoner of war.
Brown had joined the Tuskegee Airman as any other American military pilot, with a full understanding of the risks and sacrifices he was facing. And yet, as an African American, his service was not honored as it should have been during the war, and segregation was a daily part of his military experience.
That changed in a cold German POW cell.
“The guards divided the new (white) prisoners up into four cells, three or four to a cell. It was here, in this small Austrian jail cell, that I experienced integration for the first time,” Brown wrote in his book.
Brown never allowed the forced obstacles of segregation and prejudice to keep him from success. According to his biography, he was “experienced in 20 different military aircraft and with a post at Strategic Air Command under his belt during the Cuban Missile Crisis.”
He earned a doctorate degree and became vice president of academic affairs at Columbus State Community College.
Brown, who was born and raised in Minnesota before settling in Port Clinton, earned numerous honors, including induction into the Minnesota Aviation Hall of Fame in 2020; the Gathering of Eagles Foundation's circle of elite pilots and astronauts that includes Neil Armstrong, John Glenn and Chuck Yeager; a Writer of the Year Award for his autobiography; and recognition at the fourth annual Ford Oval of Honor in Columbus in 2021.
In January 2021, at age 96, Brown announced he was getting a COVID-19 vaccine, saying he hoped it would inspire other Blacks and senior citizens to put their skepticism aside and get a shot as well. His vaccination was covered by numerous Ohio news outlets.
“I realized, ‘Hey, if you want to stick around to see your next birthday, you better go down and get yourself vaccinated,’” he told the News Herald.
Tucked his hero's cape away in his hometown
While Brown was a national hero, in his hometown of Port Clinton, he tucked his hero’s cape under his coat and walked alongside his neighbors as a benevolent mentor and friend.
For many people in Port Clinton, Brown became a mentor and a friend. He often talked to organizations and groups of schoolchildren about his experiences, inspiring them to fly high to reach their own dreams and achieve their own success.
Sometimes, that inspiration came in quiet moments, as it did for Michael and Pamela Shirtz, who often sat with Brown and Bordner on the back deck of their home, watching vintage planes fly overhead from Liberty Aviation Museum and discussing their common love of jazz.
Michael composed the jazz narrative, “To Rise Above,” to honor Brown. Its debut performance was last year.
"For Pam and I, we lost a dear friend and a grandfatherly mentor. But for the world, we lost an incredible aviator, a brilliant mind of education, and one of the greatest heroes who served as an inspiration to people of all ages and all walks of life,” Michael wrote in honor of Brown. “Pamela and I will greatly miss him."
'A legacy was the last thing on my mind'
In “Keep Your Airspeed Up,” Brown said he had no idea that he was creating a legacy as a Tuskegee Airman.
“A legacy was the last thing on my mind. I never thought for one second that I was doing something wonderful, that our successes would have the impact that they did,” he wrote.
Brown’s impact continued in Port Clinton, where he inspired many with his heroism, benevolence and friendship.
Although Brown could be buried with honors at Arlington National Cemetery, it was his wish to be buried at Catawba Island Cemetery because, Bordner said, “Port Clinton was his home.” Funeral arrangements are pending.
Tomorrow: The Year's Top 10 countdown continues with the No. 2 and No. 1 stories of 2023.
rlapointe@gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Harold Brown passes away; community aids 85-year-old woman
