I am Orville's daughter, Ann De Francis. My father, Rev. Orville Schroer, spent 7 years at Mission House, four in his undergraduate years and three more as a seminary student. He graduated on Memorial Day, May 30, 1943, and married my mother, Leone (Neuhaus) Schroer on the same afternoon.

My father spoke so often about his wonderful years at Mission House. He worked at the White House Milk Condensory to earn money for school, and he also painted some of the dormitory rooms one summer. Because World War II was going on and he was soon to become a pastor, he was asked to get in touch with the young recruits in the area at the USO and make sure they had a church to attend on Sundays. My father was a member of the men's singing group, The Troubadours, and as their secretary he arranged for new choir robes to be purchased for their performances. My parents met and courted at Mission House, and they were married on the same day my father graduated from seminary.

My father served churches in Tipton, IA, Defiance, OH, Champaign, IL, Peoria, IL and Ann Arbor, MI. He decided to pursue an interest in the chaplaincy and began serving at a welfare service agency with many types of responsibilities as well as preaching in the 1960's. The agency was located just a few blocks from a large government housing project with mostly black residents. The time frame was in the mid 1960's to the early 1970's, so my father was involved in helping quell hard feelings within the community during the racial tension of those years. He then decided to pursue further training and went to Menninger Institute in Kansas for a 6-month program in chaplaincy. When he returned he began working as a counsellor in the inner city schools of Peoria, IL. He went back to school and graduated with a Master's degree at the age of 56. He continued to preach in two country churches throughout this time and began to volunteer at nearby nursing homes to visit those who were alone or who wanted pastoral counselling. In 1991 my parents moved to be near our family in Arizona, and my father began acting as the Minister of Visitation in the church he attended there. He continued in that capacity until he passed away in April of this year.

We were able to return to Lakeland this past October (2009) for a Mission House reunion sponsored by United Theological Seminary, where my father enjoyed time with his old college roommate Gordon Tritchler and others. He had conversations by phone with two other classmates, Rev. Richard Schmitz and Rev. Ernest Klaudt, one Sunday each month until just 3 days before he died.