By TIFFANY RAZZANO
He was 81.
Born in Brooklyn, Schober moved around with his family, to Astoria, Baldwin and Malverne, before settling in Rockville Centre. He joined the Navy in 1942, serving until 1946. The money he sent home from the Navy helped his parents to buy their home in Rockville Centre, says his daughter, Dawn Schober.
When he came home from the Navy, Fred Schober worked as a jewelry designer for Cartier, then in the late 1940s opened his own jewelry shop, Frederick's, in Rockville Centre. In 1949, he married Rockville Centre resident Elodie Smith. The couple, who separated years ago, had one daughter together, Dawn. Elodie Schober died last year.
Fred Schober then decided to seek a job with New York Telephone in 1951. Because he didn't have a high school diploma, which the telephone company required, he received his GED, but the company told him they didn't accept it. Irate with this response, Schober wrote to Gov. Thomas Dewey, says his daughter. "I understand this is not worth the paper it is written on and I'd like my $15 back," his daughter says he wrote Dewey. "That was my father's favorite story," she said. The tactic worked; Schober worked with the telephone company as an engineer and draftsman for 27 years before retiring early in 1978.
Art played an important role for Schober throughout his entire life. Not only did he design jewelry, but he was also an accomplished sculptor and painter. "He was a very eclectic guy," said Dawn Schober. "He was a collector. Everything was potential art, so everything was going to be made into a great sculpture or a great art piece."
Joan Lazarus, the long-time girlfriend of Fred Schober, who met him nearly 20 years ago while she was out walking her dog, says everything was art to Schober. "He would spray spider webs with paint, then adhere them to his canvas," she said. "He would make paint out of everything, dust from house, mud and dirt. He was like an alchemist. He would transform dirt and junk into beautiful surfaces like bronze, silver, gold." Though she says Schober is probably primarily known as a sculptor, he was also a talented painter. "Towards the end, all of his talents came together in a really unique way," she said. "In paintings with sculptural surfaces, kind of like sculpting in paint. So all of his skills came together."
Even while working for the phone company, his life was infused with art. His daughter recalls spending weekends with him at craft fairs and art shows where he would sell his wood carvings. He also taught art for East Rockaway's art education program and opened up his own art studio in East Rockaway at the same time.
After he retired early, to concentrate on his art full-time, he worked as a sculpture teacher for Haber School of Art in Roslyn. He also took classes at C.W. Post with Lazarus. For nearly eight years the couple would be at the school twice a week working and taking classes. His work has been shown around Long Island and in Manhattan, including at the former Family Museum in Hempstead, a barn show in Massapequa, the Roslyn Public Library and Lever House in New York City. Schober also loved music, playing both harmonica and guitar.
Calling Schober a "staunch individualist" and "a rugged individual," Lazarus says his personality was an interesting combination of many different things. "He was an interesting combination of mellow and driven, as well as perpetual student and teacher," she said. "He's a balance of opposites. He loved to be by himself, in solitude, working, a hermit. Then you'd see him outside his house, talking to everyone walked by. Everyone knew him. He was an interesting combination of artist, loner, aloof and solitude and very social."
Schober also looked the part of the eccentric artist, Lazarus says. He grew his hair and beard long and would decorate his beard with feather, beads and ribbons. Other artists would often ask him to model for their paintings and drawings. "Everybody wanted him to model for him," she said. "He looked interesting. He just had that look. He could have been a debonair gentleman, a fisherman, or a bum."
"He was a character," said his daughter. "He was not a traditional father. He was a real free spirit and very encouraging. He was a good man, a real gentleman. His credo in life was to do unto others what you want done to you. He never caused any harm. He was like Don Quixote. He marched to the beat of his own drum. He was always jousting windmills."
