1989_dumounte_schaefer | Woodward HOF

Maryellen DuMounte Schaefer Inducted 1989 - Class of 1935

Maryellen DuMounte Schaefer, Class of 1935, an outstanding leader in the fields of health and physical education, spent her early years in Toledo living on Ontario Street, near Cherry, an area she describes as clean, safe, with houses on small lots. She attended Lagrange School and Longfellow Junior High.

Maryellen's years at Woodward were ones of fun, learning, confidence-building, and discipline. She remembers many friends, especially Virginia Stachowicz, Lucy Stiper, Betty Kessly, Margaret Zimmerman, Virginia Schuster, Justen Hering, Helen Zwaya, and Leo Jankowski. Teachers who impressed her include: Amy Miller, who taught her to tap dance; Katherine McClure, who taught her favorite subject, physical education and taught her how to read and follow rules correctly; and Leland Lord, her science and homeroom teacher, who expressed confidence in her. Other teachers she recalls were: Marie Doering, a terrific role model; Adrienne Curtis, who made taking French a fun subject and who gave her such a good background that Maryellen and her husband can still

travel the backroads of France and communicate with the people; and Miss Lew and Miss Cady, whom she didn’t appreciate at the time, but realizes that they made her work and get her shorthand and typing done perfectly - skills which Maryellen still possesses.

Maryellen remembers vividly when the physical education classes wrote limericks about each other and, especially, that Miss McClure wrote one about her. She can also recall, humorously, how Homer Hanham was always chasing girls out of the boys' gym. Her favorite memory of Woodward, however, is that one of her many poems she wrote was selected as the Senior Poem for the yearbook.

After graduating from Woodward, Maryellen went on to the University of Toledo where she received her teaching degree in 1939. Teaching became her "first" profession, as she became a teacher of physical education at DeVilbiss High School, then a Director of Health and Physical Education at Maumee Valley Country Day School, and then, a Coordinator of Women's Physical Education at the University of Toledo. She then moved on to Hillsdale, Michigan, becoming supervisor of Elementary and Secondary Physical Education, and an Instructor of Health at the University of Michigan. During this time, she was also a Red Cross First Aid and Water Safety Instructor and received a Master's Degree in Education.

As a "second" career, Maryellen became co-founder and co-owner of Hob Haven Day Camp in Toledo. She is now co-founder, co-owner, and co-director of Sauk Valley Sports Centre in Brooklyn, Michigan. Sauk Valley is a training center for field hockey, softball, and volleyball. It also offers co-educational training in soccer and cross-country, as well as riding, swimming, tennis, and camping activities for young boys and girls, ages 8 to 15. It was a United States Olympic Training Center in 1977 and 1978. Maryellen is also co-founder, co-owner, and executive vice-president of Sauk Valley Sports Supply, a retail and team apparel and equipment company for school athletic teams.

In relation to her physical education activities, Maryellen has coauthored articles titled: "A Problem Solving Approach to Physical Education", "Sports, Exercise, and You", and, "Field Hockey for Teachers." She has been listed in Who's Who in American Colleges and Who’s Who of American Women. She was site director for the Olympic Training Center when it was held at Sauk Valley.

Maryellen is a member of many professional service and philanthropic organizations including the Associated Exhibitors of the Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance, a group which she has served as president. She has kept ties with Toledo, being a member of the Friends of the Toledo Library, Alliance Francaise de Toledo, the Tower Club of the University of Toledo, and the Toledo Museum of Art.

Richard Carl Schaefer and Maryellen have been married for 47 years. They have three children: Richard Carl Schaefer, Jr. (deceased), Ronald John Schaefer, and Mary Ann Schaefer Gross. They enjoy their five grandchildren: Erin, Abbie, and Jed Schaefer, and Cary and Bryce Gross.

After a life filled with so many activities, Maryellen remains busy and enjoys traveling, gardening, and golf, and still thinks fondly of those happy years at Woodward.