A funeral service to celebrate the life of Mike G. Schumacher will be held at 10:30 AM Saturday, April 8, 2017 at Trinity Lutheran Church, Napoleon. Pastor Susan Anderson will officiate. Dahlstrom Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements. Visitation will be Friday, April 7, 2017 from 6:00-8:00 PM at Dahlstrom Funeral Home. A prayer vigil at 7:00 PM will be a part of visitation.

Mike died from congestive heart failure April 3, 2017, at the age of 95, at Prestige Estates Assisted Living, Tyler, Texas where he resided from October 2016 until his death.

Mike was born in Weigel Township, Logan County, July 2, 1921. He was the fifth child of Peter S. and Magdalena (Silbernagel) Schumacher. He was baptized and confirmed at Saint Anthony Catholic Church and attended rural schools through the sixth grade when he quit school to work on the family farm. Although he never formally completed school, he demonstrated significant initiative through self-teaching and practice of reading, writing, and math.

He frequently recounted vivid memories of hard work and a hard life growing up on the family farm, and reminisced about driving the header and wagon box with teams of horses. He remembers that the days were long and extremely demanding. Often he joked, "The family had it hard and the horses had it harder."

Mike's life-long love for horses began in his childhood and became a passion during his adult years. He was well known as a horse trader and trainer, even training his children to ride and compete in horse shows. He served as president of the Bit and Spur Saddle Club for many years.

Toward the end of World War II, Mike continued his penchant for trading by starting a small trucking business. He purchased and hauled cars and other scarce items from Chicago and Detroit and resold them back home in North Dakota. When he wasn't making the long sales trips, he rented and farmed land near Napoleon. In 1946, after saving enough money, he purchased the land that became the family home place.

Because hard-working, young men have little or no time for cooking, Mike ate most of his meals at Wurl's Cafe during those years of hard work and harder travel. It seems there was something better than the cooking that kept him returning again and again to Wurl's, because on May 18, 1946 he married the cook and server, Mathilda Mertz. The wedding ceremony was officiated by Pastor Kramerer at the Lutheran parsonage.

Mike served 27 years as supervisor of Bryant Township and served 21 years on the board of directors for ASCS (FSA). For 14 of those years, he was the board chairman. He also served as Logan County Commissioner for 16 years, being first elected in 1981 and serving four successive terms. Mike was also appointed to the Social Service Board, a position he served for 19 years. In addition, he served on the board of Logan Home for the Aged for nine years.

Mike and Mathilda farmed and ranched their homestead until her death on Nov. 30, 1993.

Mike continued to farm until he retired in 2000. Mike and a special friend Emma Were moved to Bismarck where he resided until October 2016. He then moved to Tyler, TX to be closer to his family as his health began to fail.

Surviving Mike are one son and daughter-in-law, James and Reba Schumacher, Tyler, TX; one daughter and son-in-law, Maxine and David Syhre, Santa Fe, TX; one grandson, Shawn and Kiley Schumacher, Carthage, TX; two step-sons, Derek and Courtney Johnson, Tyler, TX, and Jerry Johnson, Rockville, MD; eight great-grandchildren, Josiah, Zane, Eli, and Eden Schumacher, Carthage, TX; Meadow and Gavin Johnson, Tyler, TX; Lucas and Elan Johnson-Fernandez, Rockville, MD.

Mike was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Mathilda (Mertz), two sisters and four brothers.

We want to express our gratitude to the staff and caregivers of Prestige Estates Assisted Living. A special thanks to Sandy Friesz, who was Mike's caregiver in Bismarck for two years.

Although he only formally completed a sixth grade education, he was well versed
in the important lessons of life. One of the most important lesson he taught his
family was to take hard work in stride. We are grateful for the lessons he taught us and we are proud of his accomplishments including how he handle change. We will definitely miss his support and his guiding hand.

Share memories and sign online guestbook at www.dahlstromfuneralservice.com. In lieu of flowers, a memorial donation may be made to the Children's Tumor Foundation at https://join.ctf.org/fundraise?fcid=676154 or mail directly to 95 Pine Street, 16th Floor, NY, NY 10005 – 1-800-323-7938.