Hazen J.Schumacher - Obituary 3/28/1927 - 7/18/2015 Ann Arbor, MI
Hazen Joseph Schumacher, Jr. passed away on Saturday, July 18th. Born in Detroit on March 28, 1927 to Hazen Joseph Schumacher and Julia (Quinn) Schumacher, he attended public and Catholic schools in Detroit and graduated from De La Salle Collegiate High School.
Schumacher went straight into basic training for the United States Coast Guard and was on active duty for 13 months near the end of World War II, attaining the rating of Radio Man 3rd Class. Schumacher received two degrees from The University of Michigan, a BA in Political Science in 1950 and an MA in Speech in 1951. He began working full-time for the University in 1950 as a television producer and retired from full-time employment in 1993.
Schumacher taught one course a year in the Speech (later Communication) Department, and also taught in the School of Music, School of Education, Business School's Executive Management Program, and at U of M Flint. When he reached retirement, he had been playing multiple roles as the Director of Broadcasting and Communication Department's Masters Program in Telecommunications, and a Faculty Associate in the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching.
In 1950, Schumacher worked at the newly launched University of Michigan Television Office. He produced, directed and/or supervised TV programs that featured UM faculty members and were carried by commercial stations around the country. In 1954, Schumacher directed the first programs distributed by National Educational Television, which later became PBS. He also produced films for U of M, including Football Weekend in Ann Arbor and The Idea of Michigan. In 1967, Schumacher created, produced and narrated the radio program Jazz Revisited. The show was first carried on UM stations and was picked up by the National Educational Radio Network, the organization which later became NPR, and was distributed to over 200 stations around the country. He produced the program until 1997, when he continued to write about jazz and teach credit and adult education courses on the subject.
Schumacher spoke often to UM Alumni groups in this country and abroad. In 1992-1993, he taught at the Japan Center for Michigan Universities in Ann Arbor's sister city, Hikone, Japan. Schumacher was a member of the Ann Arbor Board of Education from 1963-69 and was its President in 1967-68. He served on numerous boards in Ann Arbor including the United Way, Summer Festival, Alzheimers Foundation, Junior Achievement, Jazzistry and the Southeastern Michigan Jazz Association (SEMJA). SEMJA is honoring him with a lifetime achievement award this coming weekend at a concert.
Schumacher is survived by Shirley (Rusty) Davis Schumacher, whom he married in 1954; four children, John (Martha Lowry) in Brookline, MA; Mare (Luis Fernandez) in Flagstaff, AZ; Nancy (George) Walter in Farmington Hills, MI; Martha (Casey Olney) in Alexandria, VA; and five grandchildren, Hazen Paul Lowry Schumacher and Zoe Schumacher in Brookline, MA; and Grady, Yvette, and Piper Walter in Farmington Hills.