Edward Dean Schroeder

Our family lost our beloved, one and only Ed Schroeder on February 27. He took care of us all, loved joking, telling stories, and most of all, making everything better for his family, friends and students. It is hard to imagine a world without Ed.

Ed was born in Thermopolis, Wyoming to Hazel and William Schroeder and his older sister, Beverly. His father was appointed police chief for their small town and his mother worked as a social worker for the child welfare service. When the political appointment ended, his father became the custodian for the elementary school. The family moved to Corvallis, Oregon when Ed was six to seek care for his father’s eyes. His father was able to continue working as a custodian at Oregon State University while his mother taught college algebra and worked in the library at OSU. Ed attended St. Mary’s elementary and later Corvallis High School where he made many close, lifelong friends (more later).

The spring semester at OSU, Ed spotted Mary Clark in his freshman English class. He asked her for a coffee date and loved to tell the story about how her roommate had to tell him she was asleep when he went to pick her up. Somehow Ed was able to get past her initial lack of interest, and they married after graduation in 1961.

Ed finished his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering at OSU. He was then hired by the Public Health Service in Cincinnati. Ed liked Cincinnati beer, but he and Mary were thinking of other opportunities. Ed entered the PhD program at Rice University in Houston the fall of 1963. After receiving his PhD in 1966 and receiving offers from several universities in cold winter climates, he accepted the UC Davis offer. So, with toddler Margaret in the back seat of their VW Bug and Mary holding baby Peter in the front passenger seat, they set off for California.

Davis was the perfect town for Ed and Mary. Ed loved his work in the newly established College of Engineering. He had free rein to develop his research program in biological wastewater treatment, and his colleagues became close friends. Seeing his students succeed was immensely rewarding for him. He served as faculty advisor for the Chicanx and Latinx Engineers and Scientists Society (CALESS) for years, and he and Mary hosted numerous dinners and meetings at their house. Ed received the first College of Engineering Outstanding Advising Award in honor of his service to students and passion for student advising.

Meanwhile their family grew: Katherine (1968), Michael (1969), Timothy (1971), Phillip (1972), and Matthew (1974). In addition to sabbaticals in Swansea, Wales (1973-74) and Leeds, England (1980-81), the family took camping trips all over the western United States. Many of the classic Schroeder family stories are related to various levels of car breakdowns on those trips, Ed driving 800 miles with pneumonia, and the chaos that happens with seven people in a tent.

Ed retired from UC Davis in 2000. He and Mary loved unplanned, spur of the moment day trips with son Mike to the foothills or the Gold Country or the Crocker Art Museum or anywhere they wanted to explore. They traveled extensively with dear friends and family but most frequently they headed south to see Peter’s family in San Diego and Margaret’s family in El Paso several times a year. Ed loved to drive and Mary loved going with him. In addition to traveling, Ed baked cookies for Mary’s friends and sent care packages to the grandkids in college. He and Mary were active, lifelong members of St. James Parish and were role models for their kids on how important their faith was to the way they lived their lives.

Ed had a relentlessly optimistic spirit. He believed in his own capacity to make life better for others and he believed in the goodness of his fellow human beings. He was an energizer bunny who always hosted holiday dinners and to the frustration of his family, always won at Monopoly and Acquire (there are allegations, though, that he and granddaughter Em cheated).

Mary’s death from Parkinson’s in 2022 was extremely hard on him. He started going to daily Mass and assisting with the St Vincent De Paul Society. He desperately missed his lifelong partner.

In the fall of 2022, Ed attended his high school reunion in Corvallis. Several of his old friends were there, including Jean Frazier, his high school sweetheart (they were King and Queen of two dances). Jeannie left Corvallis after her freshman year at OSU. She obtained her PhD in Public Health and had a joint appointment at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Public Health and the School of Dentistry. Jeannie and Ed spent months reconnecting through phone calls and emails. One thing led to another, and Ed was like a 17-year-old boy again. The two married in March 2024 and Ed spent the last year happily with Jeannie at her home on the Oregon Coast.

Ed is survived by wife, Jean Frazier Geist; children Margaret (Guillermo Medina), Peter (Theresa), Michael, Phillip (Lora) and Matthew (Heather); sister Beverly Schwartz; grandchildren Fernando, Luis, Jose, Katherine and Emily Medina, Joshua, Molly, Noah, Scot, Jakob, Jacob, Delaney, Amy and Kaitlyn Schroeder, and Madison Pike; and great-grandchildren Camila, Jade, Emma and Gia Medina. He is predeceased by his first wife, Mary, his parents, children Katherine and Timothy, and grandchild Samantha Young.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Ed to the St James St Vincent De Paul Society, the Edward and Mary Schroeder Fund for Civil And Environmental Engineering Students at UC Davis or a charity of the donor’s choice.

There will be a Mass of Christian Burial at St. James, Davis at 12 p.m. Friday, March 14. A Rosary and Vigil will be prayed at the Smith Funeral Home at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 13.

A reception will be held Friday, March 14, 2025 at 2:00 PM at the El Macero Country Club.