One of the saddest times in anyone's life is when they have to say goodbye to someone, knowing that they will never see

that person again. Saddest of course to the family member who is faced with that task. My sympathy goes out to those in

our close knit family we call the Adventure Travelers, who have lost a close family member.

The Coon family who lost their father Darryl, Marilyn Parke who lost her husband Geary,

Joyce Liddle who lost her husband Wayne, Gary Sample who lost his mother Alice,

The Westveers who lost their mother Shirley, Eleanor Smith who lost her husband Alan,

Dianne Schlaepfer who lost her husband George, and most recently Jim Robertson lost his wife Bonnie.

What these people all have in common is that they are all part of the Adventure Travelers family. Each person we lose

leaves another hole in our heart that can never be filled. The mention of any of their names bring memories to mind that

reminds us of how fortunate we were to have known them. They will each be remembered for the unique individual that

they were and for the travel experience we shared.

I met George in the late 70’s or early 80’s at the Ford Pilot Plant in Dearborn. We were drawn together when they

formed a small team to implement a new concept from IBM called the Information Center. Here is a picture of

that group which was taken on my 30th anniversary at Ford. George is in the back row on the right.

Our job was to learn the new software, install it at the

assembly plants, and teach them how to use it. The big

obstacle to this was that the software designer from IBM

had used a programming language that required the use of

special symbols that were not on a normal keyboard. George

was given the job of coming up with a way to teach people

how to enter report requests on a keyboard that didn’t have

the right keys - a somewhat daunting task. Eventually he

discovered that IBM made plastic key caps that snapped on

the keyboard and these had the special symbols that were

needed. George knew it was not a good solution but it was

all he had to work with. He tried many times, over a period

of weeks, to get a set of these key caps so that he could

began testing. Finally, he was told that IBM had modified

the software so that the use of special symbols was no

longer necessary. Sometime later, we were celebrating

George’s birthday at the office with a card and a cake and someone had placed one small gift, neatly wrapped on his

desk. When he opened it he was surprised to find a set of the snap on key caps that he had been desperately trying to

get for months which he now no longer needed.

In Memory Of . . .

Adventure 2000

View From The Deck

I Delivered the following remembrance at Georges Funeral on 5/31/2014 at the Manns-Ferguson Funeral Home

Who are these people? See Page 5

I first learned about George’s love for trains when he told me he was

acting as host on a trip to the Colorado Monument with the Michigan

Railroad Club. We signed up for this trip and it turned out to be a really

nice one. We rode the train to Denver and then took a bus for the

remainder of the journey. I remember that the return route on the train

had to be altered further south because the Missouri River was flooded.

The water was so close to the tracks where we crossed that it seemed as

though you could reach down and touch it.

Now keep in mind that whenever I say “George planned a trip”, I want it

understood that George made it clear to me that he could not have done

it without Dianne. He told me that when he would get these grandiose

ideas for a trip, it was Dianne that would bring him back to reality and

let him know that “Hey! we can’t do that much in one day.” - he fully

recognized her excellent counsel.

Roger, who also worked in the Information Center, went on a trip in

1984 that George planned, this time to Switzerland. When Roger

returned to work after the trip he had nothing but glowing comments to

say about the experience. I was sorry I had missed it. Fortunately for us,

George did another trip to Switzerland in 1990. Nancy and I went on this

one and it was a life changer. George and Dianne exposed us to train

travel like we never knew it could be. The train rides he took us on were

out of this world. George always got so much enjoyment in showing the

rest of us the beauty of Switzerland. When we looked out the window of

the Bernina Express, on a trestle over 200 feet high and about to enter a

tunnel straight into the side of the mountain, our jaws dropped. George

was able to tell who was on the train for the first time by the expression

on their face. He would smile, knowing full well what we were

experiencing - something he had experienced many times before.

On this same trip, George surprised us one day by telling us were going

on a Mystery tour. We boarded a train early in the morning and rode for

a time. Then we got off, waited a few minutes and boarded another train

and rode some more. When we got off the second train we walked a

couple of blocks uphill, until we came to a big gondola that held several

people. We rode for a time and got off, and boarded a smaller cable car,

something like an enclosed ski lift for two people, and continued up the

mountainside. When we reached the mountain top we were in the middle

of a Swiss Festival that George had spotted in some travel literature. It

wasn’t in our trip plans, and I don’t think there were any other tourists

In Memory Of . . .

Adventure 2000

View From The Deck

Adventure 2000 - Landwasser Viaduct, Switzerland

The first big gondola we rode held several people

there either. But we thought it was the greatest day of the tour. There

was a Swiss band, Alpine horns, food and dancing. We watched George

and Dianne step out on the outdoor dance floor, built on the side of the

mountain, and dance to the music of the band. It was here that we

discovered a simple Swiss delicacy called Raclette, which was hot

melted cheese scrapped from a big round block onto a slice of bread.

It was this trip that really turned the tide for us as far a travel goes.

We were hooked and George was the one who hooked us.

I retired from Ford in 93 and only saw George once a year at the Ford

retiree’s banquet. I continued to carry around with me this urge to return

to Switzerland with a group and show others what George had shown us.

After about 6 years I finally called George and asked him if he was ready

to do another trip to Switzerland. He finally agreed to do it with one

stipulation. He would do the planning and escorting but I would have to

get a group together, make the reservations and handle the money. So

that’s how we did it. He feed me the plans, the hotels, the routes, and

told me what to do, and I made the reservations over the internet.

George was the best when it came to planning train trips. He would take

off his glasses and flip through the European rail schedule, a book of fine

print about three inches thick, and pick out the exact trains we needed to

get where we wanted to go—He was the only person I knew who took

off his glasses to read fine print. The trip covered 4 countries, Poland,

Hungary, Austria and ending up in Switzerland. He even got us our own

railcar one time with my name and the name of the tour “Adventure

2000” on the side of the car. I’ll never forget it, nor will the other 15 or

so people who came along. That trip motivated our group to keep on

traveling, and we never stopped.

I remember some things about that trip that may seem insignificant now

but they are part of what I remember about George. Like the way he was

so economical about food. He and Dianne would often go into the local

markets and pick up bread and cheese and a bottle of tea, and find a cozy

place somewhere to sit down and enjoy their lunch while others were out

spending 20 dollars to eat in a nice restaurant. He was quite skilled at

making his way around in a foreign country. For example, our first train

in 2000 was Warsaw to Krakow. When we arrived at the station there

were problems with our train and a few anxious moments until George

was somehow able to arrange passage on an alternate train.

In Memory Of . . .

Adventure 2000

View From The Deck

It was the greatest day of the tour, we were hooked

He fed me the plans and I made the reservations

Train tracks between Warsaw and Krakow

I remember when George took us to this great restaurant in the Vienna

woods in the hills overlooking Vienna. It was nighttime and the view

was beautiful. The restaurant was an “all you could eat buffet” where

we would just fill up our plates and walk by the cashier who would tally

up the bill. George was standing by the cashier, waiting for the bill and

wondering what he had got himself into. He never thought we would all

eat that much. But it turned out that he had enough cash in his hand to

pay the bill.

He always told me travel was an adventure and to be ready for

anything.

George could be emotional too. I remember standing next to him in

Lucerne, Switzerland by the Lion of Lucerne Monument. As he told us

the story of the Lion Sculpture that commemorates the Swiss Guards

who were massacred in Paris during the French Revolution, tears came

to his eyes. To most of us it was just another monument until we

discovered from George the deep significance it had for the Swiss

people.

Part of George’s legacy will be the many happy memories that he was

instrumental in bringing to those he escorted on tours in Europe and

elsewhere.

I am one of the proud recipients of those memories.

Farewell George and enjoy your ride on the train bound for glory.

From the Observer & Eccentric dated Thursday, May 29, 2014

May 21, 2014 at the age of 77. Beloved husband of Dianne for almost

51 years. Dear father of Charles Schlaepfer, Alice (Craig) VanEss, Ann

(David) BeBeau, Carol (Kenneth) Newman, Cynthia (Michael) Kubus

and Patrick (Deb) Irwin. Son of the late George L. and Dorthory (nee

Fitch) Schlaepfer. Loving grandfather of Patrick, Chrissy, Katerina,

Olivia, Julia, Nathan, Jenna, Emma, Jaden and the late Faith. Brother of

Alice (Will) Gabel. Memorial Visitation MANNS-FEGERSON

FUNERAL HOME 17000 Middlebelt (S. of 6 Mile), Friday, May 30,

5-8 p.m. and Saturday, May 31, 12-3 p.m. with Memorial Services at

3 p.m. Family suggest memorials to Michigan Association of Rail

Passengers. Share a memory: www.mannsfuneralhome.com

In Memory Of . . .

Adventure 2000

View From The Deck

View of Vienna from The Vienna Woods

Lion Monument—Lucerne, Switzerland

Train Bound For Glory

Left to Right . . .

Chuck ? - The new kid on the block, I don’t know where he went.

Bill Lassila - he is responsible for me getting my grade 9 which got me a lease car and a pay raise. He died of a heart attack

about 5 years after I retired, way to young. He went to Michigan Tech College and was a goaltender on their hockey team. He

had a twin brother named John Lassila.

Jerry Zawada - I think he transferred to another division, he retired and moved away, but passed away in 2016.

Billy Fier - He took a medical retirement due to bowel cancer, only lived one more year. We went to his house once to a

party, somewhere on the west side, Westland maybe.

Shirley ? - Very nice person, had some marriage problems. Was very good at Focus (a database manager program). She took

a job in Alaska for super wages to help some company with Focus projects. (also perhaps to escape a failed marriage). I too

was proficient in using Focus, but Shirley was better. She loved it and became a self taught expert.

Roger Hayman - Good friend, I still run into him occasionally, at a car show for example. He owns classic T-Birds and other

cars. He lives in Chelsea, I still communicate with him via email.

George Schlaepfer - Very good friend. Designed and guided our group’s first tour to Europe which we c alled Adventure

2000. We went to Poland, Hungary, Austria, and Switzerland. George has relatives in Switzerland and traveled there many

times. George died May 2014.

Chuck Johnson - Very nice person. I only knew him at work. He had a brother who was a professor somewhere who wrote a

scientific book about fossilized worms.

Bill Ingersol - My boss, was originally from Metal Stamping Division before they merged with us at Automotive Assembly

Division - we became Body & Assembly Division. Bill retired one year before I did and moved to Naples Florida. He

discovered that he had ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) and died a year later. I was at his retirement party and later spoke to others

who agreed that he was even then showing signs of the disease. While offering his comments in a short speech, he was slurring

his words. We thought at the time is was due to alcohol consumption but perhaps not.

Adventure 2000

Who are these people and

why am I the only one

sitting down? No particular

reason, they pulled up a

chair and told me to sit for

the picture, so I did. This

picture was taken on my

30th anniversary working

for Ford—these are some

of the people I worked with

in a newly formed group

call the Information Center.

Our job was to support

“user friendly” software run

from a terminal, initially a

product called Focus. They

carved out an office for us

in the Ford Pilot Plant,

Allen Park, MI.