Steven Alvin Schumann

He was the son of John and Alma Schumann. A Visitation for Steve will be held from 3:00pm to 4:00pm followed by a Celebration of Life Service at 4:00pm on Saturday, April 6 at Mt. Moriah, Newcomer & Freeman Funeral Home, 10507 Holmes Road, Kansas City, MO. This will be followed by food and refreshments in his honor in the funeral home reception area. Family and friends will continue the celebration of Steve's life at a Wake after 6:00pm at Conroy's Public House, 12924 State Line Road, Leawood, Kansas. His service will be livestreamed and may be viewed at the link below in the service details.

Steve was born on December 6, 1941, in Horton, Kansas, and grew up on a dairy and wheat farm in Powhattan, Kansas, where he was the youngest of four children. Life on the farm consisted of milking cows, driving tractors, climbing silos, sledding on country roads behind his father’s truck, and taking piano lessons from his mother. Steve loved music, and was selected as a tenor for the Future Farmers of America national choir.

Steve was a standout athlete, excelling in basketball, football, track, and pole vault in Brown County. He was one of the founders and served as a captain of the Kansas City Rugby Football Club and the inaugural 1968 Aspen Ruggerfest champion Kansas City team; he also travelled for matches internationally. In 2017, he was inaugurated into the Rugby Hall of Fame. He was known for his tenacity and fearlessness, traits that carried over into epic basement ping pong matches, where he was always willing to sacrifice his body as he crashed into stacks of boxes for the shot.

While attending the University of Kansas, living in the Lutheran Beta Sig Fraternity, and singing in the KU Chorale, he met his beautiful, smart, and wonderful wife Cheryl Lynnette Small. They were married on May 31, 1963. After KU, Steve pursued a career as a chemist and worked as a bartender at Kelly's in Westport, which somehow evolved into a successful career as a top Wrangler account representative for 30 years. His ability to connect with people and his knack for pouring the perfect pint of Guinness made him a natural in sales.

He was also active in the KC Ski Club, Our Savior Lutheran and Valley View Methodist Church Choirs, and the KC Breakfast Club. Steve also played in national horseshoe tournaments, and Cheryl and Steve would drive Cheryl’s father Tom Small to tournaments around the United States, where Tom won multiple world champion horseshoe titles.

Steve is survived by his loving wife Cheryl of 60 years, daughter Stephanie (Keith), son Michael (Kim), and grandchildren Luke, Carley, Michael, Samson, and Daniel. Steve was known as “Bro-pa” to his grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father John, mother Alma, brother John, sister Gwen, and brother Robert.

Steve will be remembered for his smile, intellect, wit, exquisite grammar usage, singing of pub and rugby songs, blaring the 1812 Overture on Christmas mornings, dedication to his family and friends, generosity, and his competitive spirit. As his fellow Rugby teammates would say, "he ain't human, he's Schumann." He will be deeply missed by all who knew him.

Steve requested that any donations be given to the KC Rugby Football Club (https://kcrugbyfoundation.org/seymour-scholarship/) and/or the Kansas City Chorale (https://www.kcchorale.org/)

Cards can be sent to Cheryl Schumann #2508, 13875 West 115th Terrace, Olathe, KS 66062