Volunteer work is post-retirement career for Plymouth couple
“Mrs. S” and “the school grandpa” – Shirley, above, and Bob Schon of Plymouth have been longtime volunteers at Northport Elementary School in Brooklyn Center. (Submitted photos) BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER Bob Schon began working as a volunteer soon after he retired from a 32-year career with Northwest Airlines in 1990. “I traveled all over the world with the airlines,” he said. “We’ve seen almost every country and all 50 states. Now we’re doing local things. My wife Shirley and I are both 83, and we do most everything together.” The couple, married for 63 years, have volunteered together in Robbinsdale Area Schools and also at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale. “We do some kind of volunteering every day,” Bob said. In the Robbinsdale elementary schools, they started at Meadow Lake, spent a year at New Hope Elementary, went back to Meadow Lake and then to Northport, Schon said. “Since 1993, Bob has been a dedicated volunteer with Robbinsdale Area
Schools, touching the hearts and enriching the lives of countless children,” said Jill Kaufman, coordinator of District 281’s Volunteers In Partnership program. “As a reading tutor with young learners who need extra encouragement and support, Bob prepares them for success.” His impact “goes beyond building academic skills,” according to Kaufman. “Bob’s ability to nurture, develop rapport and convey a sense of genuine caring for each student he tutors has a profound impact on young lives,” she said. “It is a joy to see students flock to him when he enters the school.” Shirley Schon is “just as impactful as he is,” Kaufman said. Added Bob, “The kids always call her ‘Mrs. S.’” Though the Schons’ tutoring work has been cut back some for the last two years because of Shirley’s health concerns, they still work with kids in the schools. “This year we did ‘pumpkin math’ at
Northport,” Schon said, explaining that fifth-graders at the school start with real pumpkins and are asked to guess 20 things about them, such as weight, size and number of seeds inside. Then they weigh the pumpkins, cut into them and count out the seeds. “We help with Special Persons Day, and also at carnivals,” Schon added. Because the Schons have no children or grandchildren of their own, the schoolchildren they work with have a special impact on the couple, Bob Schon said. “A lot of them have many siblings and may not have grandparents,” he said. “I was kind of like the school grandpa. I’d ask them what they did last week. They’re not used to anyone sitting and listening to their answers. The kids are the greatest. They’ve got a lot of love to give, and we give a lot of love back.” Twice a month, the Schons volunteer at North Ridge Care Center in New Hope, where they help with bingo. Some-
times they go on daytime bus trips with senior organizations. The two have done pew maintenance at Valley Community Presbyterian Church in Golden Valley for the last 20 years. At North Memorial Medical Center, the Schons have spent the last 18 years working for four hours each Tuesday in the Patient Care Center, where they help the nurses. For Shirley, her favorite volunteer activity is “whatever I’m doing at the time.” Bob also is a volunteer and past local chapter president for AARP and for the Minneapolis North Memorial Medical Center’s Mended Hearts, affiliated with the American Heart Association. After suffering a heart attack and undergoing coronary artery bypass surgery 32 years ago at the age of 51, Schon quit smoking, started exercising and eating healthy foods. Now, as part of the Heart Center VolCOUPLE - TO PAGE 5