My Grandfather, Louis Chuver

submitted by Mark

My Grandfather, Louis Chuver, had the biggest hands I have ever seen. His wife Cele Schmidt and his friends called him Louie, his two daughters called him dad, his six grandchildren, ten great grandchildren and their friends called him Zazy, and his many nieces and nephews and their children called him Uncle Lou. Tonight while I was looking for some of Zazy’s things to give to my nephew Nick, I came across Zazy’s silver table lighter. I was always fascinated by this as a kid. As I was polishing the tarnish from the lighter, I thought about the impact he had on so many lives. I never thought it to be an understatement to say he made a positive impression on everyone he met. While he was alive, I saw people absolutely light up when they were around him and almost ten years after he passed people still light up when they recall him. What really astounded me tonight was the effect he has on an almost eight-year-old boy who never got the chance to meet him. I want Nick and the other younger descendants of the Chuver and Schmidt families to know some of the stories about the members of their families they did not get to meet. As one of the youngest members of my generation of this family, I hope my older relatives can add to the following recollections of the previous generation.

I was so fortunate; I was an adult before any of my grandparents passed away. I grew up going to Zazy and Grandma’s just about every Friday night for dinner. Usually when we arrived, he was wearing an apron and “working hard” over a skillet of fried potatoes. I found out much later that grandma had actually cooked the potatoes for the 60-90 minutes it takes to make them and he would step in at the end right before we got to their apartment. Most Fridays, Grandma’s sister Laura and her late sister Mary’s husband Fred would join us for Shabbes dinner, and of course Grandma’s brother Sam lived with them, so he would be there too. It was always a special treat when Aunt Jeannie, Uncle Milford, Bruce, Keith, or Betsy were in town. My memories of these dinners include Zazy playing with his birds, Petey and Dumb Dumb. Petey could do lots of tricks (nothing like the original Petey I have heard about from my older relatives, although I do have a picture of the original Petey sitting on his shoulder as he is shaving). Also, I remember him watching “The Six Million Dollar Man” on TV with me and acting like he was as excited as me during the show. When Bruce or Keith were there, they would offer me a quarter to give me knocks (with the first k not silent) on the head or to throw me over the banister, Bruce would hold me over the banister, he never dropped me, but he always gave me the quarter.

Whether it was on Friday night dinners or on the holidays, Zazy always loved telling stories. He would tell stories about growing up in Illinois and in North St. Louis. He and younger Brother Jack had a childhood filled with sports, fights, and fun. Every Passover he would tell the story about him as child trying to explain to his father about how Moses found water in the desert. He told his dad Moses used science instead of God to find water and his dad smacked him so hard in the chest that he flew against the wall. He said it was the only time his father hit him. Another story he always told was how his momma would wrestle around with his friends when they would come over to his house. Also, he loved to tell the story about how he had to pitch in a baseball game the day of his first date with Grandma and he was late because the game went into extra innings and she was so mad that she almost broke her date with him.

Zazy and grandma had a very special relationship. He always told about how beautiful he thought she was when he met her and how she became more beautiful throughout their relationship. He was very expressive about his feelings for her and I vividly remember him patting her on her backside whenever he could. I even have a picture of him doing that. Also I have a picture of the two of them from the early 1990s and he is hugging her and the smiles on their faces and look in their eyes says much more than thousands of words ever could. While he was a larger than life character and she was happy in role as the quite wife in the background, he left no doubt who was the boss. He would call her Sergeant Schmidt and he would jump to follow her orders. When we would all go to a restaurant, he would always tell the waitress to serve him a drink in a water glass so Grandma would not know he was having a drink. I think she knew anyway. I did not become close with Grandma until her last couple of years. I would drive her to the nursing home most days when he was in there and after he passed away, my ex-wife Lisa and I would pick her up to go Friday night dinner at my parent’s house. Sometimes the three of us would go to Piccadilly’s cafeteria instead and then we would take her to the grocery store. She always had exact lists, three oranges, five bananas, six apples. We had a lot of time to talk and she would tell me how much she relished her role in the background and out of his spotlight.

Sports were a big part of Zazy’s life. He was an excelled at baseball, basketball, football, golf (two holes-in-one), bowling, boxing, hustling pool, and racquetball. He was so good at racquetball that he would have to play down a few age groups at the Senior Olympics. He always took an interest in my sports. He came to as many of my hockey and football games as he could. When I was coaching high school hockey he would follow my team through the newspaper and he would call me when he saw we had won or lost any big games. Zazy was a fixture at the JCCA and he is still well remembered there. When my niece Ali was in preschool at the J, he would visit her class everyday and all of the other kids called him Zazy.

Zazy had a way of making newcomers to the family feel welcomed. He made everyone feel like they were his favorite.

Quick memories of other family members

Jack- big, loud, always smiling he taught me the offside rule in hockey

by diagramming it on a napkin

Laura- brutally honest always argued with Zazy at dinner

Fred- Cheerful, always brought dessert

Sam- three teeth always got under Zazy’s skin

Sara- (Jack’s wife) beautiful

Ruth- (Zazy’s sister) big smile big eyes, strong accent