Gerald L. Schutzenhofer Sr.

He was born to Alois & Bernice Schutzenhofer on June 28th, 1937 in Chicago, Illinois. In his early years growing up on the city’s South Side, he learned about showing strength in the face of adversity, the importance of loyalty to God, family, this country, and the duty to leave things better than you found them.

His education in life continued when he joined the United States Marine Corps from 1954-1957, followed by a degree in Management & Marketing from Southern Illinois University, which he completed in 1961.

Over the course of his adult life, he worked as a tuckpointer, a superintendent, a restaurant & bar owner, a real estate agent, a custodian, a US Peace Corps volunteer, and a maintenance mechanic. Ever the perfectionist, he approached every role and every project with the motto, “Be the job, big or small, do it well or not at all.”

While he took great pride in his work, education, and service to his country, his greatest source of pride was his family. He deeply loved his brothers, James (d. 1962) and Robert (Crystal), his sons, Gerald Jr. (Teresa), James (Betsy), Richard (Amy), and Michael (Kendra), his nieces and nephews, Megan (James), Mari (Jay), Robert, and Richard (Danika), his grandchildren, JT (Karina), Taylor, Alyssa (Zachary), Emily, Joshua, Jackson, and Emma, his beloved wife of 33 years, Breta, and the many extended family members and friends with whom he got to share his life and one-of-a-kind sense of humor.

A celebration of life memorial service will be held at a later date.

For anyone willing to make a memorial contribution, please consider donating to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Child Mind Institute, or SocialWorks Chicago."