Jack Schloeman

John Frederick Schloeman was born on August 13, 1905, in Norway.  His father, Edward, was the grandson of Earnest H. Schloeman, a hardy European immigrant who had endured eleven weeks at sea in a sailboat in order to reach the United States of America over fifty years earlier.

“Jack” graduated from Norway High School with the class of 1923.  He was, as were so many Norway students even then, a terrific baseball player.  He was so good, in fact, that it is widely acknowledged that he was offered a professional contract by one of the major league scouts in the area.  While the details are unclear, Jack eventually declined the offer at the behest of his family.

Probably not one to dwell on the past, Schloeman pressed forward, and in 1927 married Myrna Allum in Cedar Rapids.  For the next thirty-five years or so, he worked as a switchman for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad.  During his career there, and along with the Holland brothers and so many others in the area, he played for years in the Cedar Rapids-based Manufacturers & Jobbers semi-pro league.

Schloeman was an active member of the community (like his cousin Henry), especially in the St James Methodist Church, the United Transportation Union, the Otter Creek Sportsman Club, and the Eagles Club.  On January 9, 1997, after a long illness, Schloeman passed away in Marion, Iowa.