Thomas Joseph Schlottenmeier died peacefully on Sunday May 3rd. He was part of the « Greatest Generation » born in the early years of the 20th century. His sense of responsibility, integrity, and work ethic was forged during some of the toughest times this country had to face. He was also a scholar at heart and reveled in the technological advances and innovations of the time. His love of learning and delight in being organized stayed with him throughout his life. He was the beloved husband of the late Alice Walsh Schlottenmeier(d.1979) eldest son of the late Henry W Schlottenmeier and Winifred Ford Schlottenmeier, both first generation Americans. He was also predeceased by sister Dorothea Schlottenmeier Richter and brother Henry Schlottenmeier Jr.
Born on December 9th 1925 in Colonial Lakelands section of Trenton, New Jersey, Thomas loved books from an early age and often read under a blanket with a flashlight in his room at night so as not to wake his brothers. The house he grew up in at 2204 Brunswick Avenue was built by his father, a skilled craftsman. It still stands today and will for many years to come.
Two days before his 16th birthday, Pearl Harbor was bombed and the war quickly did away with what was left of childhood.
His great intellect, curiosity and hard work got him accepted at age seventeen to Princeton University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and he opted for the greater independance offered by moving to Cambridge Massachusetts to study at MIT. There he joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and never forgot his college years at MIT with SAE. In his early nineties, although his memory was failing, he still knew all the words and tunes of the MIT and SAE hymns.
WHEN YOU HEAR A MELODY, A SIMPLE SING-A- LONG
Music has accompanied him his entire life. He was a self-taught pianist and many of our fondest memories of him are closely linked to the songs he played on the piano, on the hifi, and taught us to sing along. He was also a clever inventor of little tunes, words and sayings to fit any occasion. He regaled us with these throughout our childhood and adulthood and we have never forgotten them. They made chores, lessons or tough times easier and happy times even happier.
Putting college on hold, he joined the Navy to serve his country in WWII as soon as he was of age. He trained as a radar technician and was soon teaching radar to officer candidates to prepare them for battle. He never forgot the exhileration and tragedy of those years.
With his degree in Engineering from MIT, class of 1948, he quickly found work in chemical research at the Department of Agriculture in Wyndmoor Pa., and then worked for Honeywell in Philadelphia and Fort Washington Pa., and AMF Atomics in Greenwich, Ct.
He married our mother in 1953 at Blessed Sacrement Church in Trenton, NJ and shortly afterwards bought a home in Abington Pa. where his six children were born. His second child died shortly after birth.
In 1966 he transferred up to Massachusetts with Honeywell and bought a home in Wellesley. There, he earned a MBA at Babson College all while working full time and raising a family of 5 children.
He retired in 1983 and moved to Chatham on Cape Cod in 1990, a place he loved. He was very proud of all his grandchildren and enjoyed their visits immensely.
My father always had a wonderful sense of humor and his sentimental side blossomed in his later years. In his slow decline he never lost either. He was still laughing and singing before the outbreak of Covid-19.
He is survived by his brother Richard Schlottenmeier of Trenton NJ, his five children: son Frederick Schlottenmeier of Douglas, MA, daughter Joan Schlottenmeier of Paris France, son Thomas Henry Schlottenmeier of Douglas MA, son David Schlottenmeier and wife Myra (Galang) Schlottenmeier of Sagamore Beach MA and daughter Dorothy Shulman and husband Seth Shulman of Medway MA. And nine grandchildren : Leif Peguillan and his partner Charlotte Maitrot, Matthew Shulman and his wife Ashley Lazzari Shulman, Stephen Shulman and his wife Megan McGrath Shulman, Joshua Schlottenmeier, Tennessee Le Du, Jacob Schlottenmeier, Hayley Shulman, Thomas Shulman and Joseph Schlottenmeier. 29 nieces and nephews and a first great-grandson to be born in just a month.
« When we’ve all had our troubles and parted, we’ll be the same as we started, just a travelin‘ along, singing our song, side by side. »
Services will be private. There will be a Memorial Service after the current crisis. As an expression of sympathy, donations may be made to United Through Reading : https://unitedthroughreading.org/support/donate/