John Schaefer

John Charles Schaefer died January 29, 2026. He was born March 6, 1947 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the third of Margaret and Clayton Schaefer’s six children. John graduated from Annunciation Grade School and Premontre High School in Green Bay and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He loved to play baseball and hockey as a kid and horse around with his brothers, Jim and Mark, perhaps even setting off a stink bomb or two during his mom’s bridge games. John was a serious student; he worked hard and was always at the top of his class.

He met his wife, Sandra Dalebroux at UW-Madison. They married after graduation and moved back to Green Bay, where John began his career at Procter & Gamble as a chemical engineer. He grew his first big garden at their home on Overland Road, inviting friends and family over to harvest vegetables. In 1980, John and Sandi packed up their children, Lesley and Jared, and made the big move to Cincinnati, Ohio, where John accepted a Finance position with P&G.

In Cincinnati, John focused on family and work, also taking on his favorite second job, one that he continued until the end of his life: coaching. He coached Lesley’s soccer and softball teams and Jared’s baseball and basketball teams at All Saints. He also played softball, grew a bountiful vegetable garden on Tanagerwoods Drive and could fix anything (including the Hopewell Road fixer-upper farmhouse he and Sandi took on and renovated themselves in the early 1990’s). He played the music loud in his den at night, instilling in his kids a love of Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Jimmy Buffett.

In 2001, he retired from P&G after a long, successful career. John and Sandi began spending summers in Door County, Wisconsin and recently celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary in December. John and Sandi traveled the world with friends (amassing quite a collection of AAA travel guidebooks organized in alphabetical order on his shelf) and loved to go for hikes and long walks. In the past couple years, they would often walk on the Wasson Way with their kids, grandkids and the dogs.

In 2007, John’s first grandchild arrived and from then on, he was Grampy: an adoring, supportive, and always-there grandfather who coached everything from Little Cougars soccer and baseball at St. Mary to basketball, baseball, and soccer at Seven Hills. He put on epic Easter egg hunts as the E.B. and loved to drop off Costco and Kroger hauls to his kids, most recently delivering beautiful Costco Christmas cacti to Sandi, Susan and Lesley. He and Sandi taught the grandkids about nature, gardening, fishing, cribbage, Ticket to Ride, stamps and coins. Together, the family cheered on the Packers and Badgers, and he took every grandchild to Lambeau for a game.

John is survived by his wife, Sandi; daughter, Lesley (Ben) Koth; son, Jared (Susan) Schaefer; grandchildren, Sean and Allison Koth; Adam, Maria, Drew and Clay Schaefer; his sisters, Joan Schaefer and Mary (Pat) Gagan; sisters-in-law, Sharon Schaefer, Nancy (Joe) Jacobs; Debby Dalebroux (Gary Rosencrantz); Terri (Edward) Martin; Lori (Kurt) Hoffman and brother-in-law, Tom (Joan) Dalebroux; and by many nieces and nephews.

John was preceded in death by his parents, Margaret and Clayton Schaefer; parents-in-law, Shirley and Milton Dalebroux; brothers, Jim and Mark and sister, Mickey; and brother-in-law, Matt Dalebroux.

We did not get enough time with John, but as John would quote:

"You can’t always get what you want

But if you try sometime, you just might find

You get what you need."

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary Catholic Church in Hyde Park (Cincinnati) on Friday, February 20, 2026 at 11 AM. Visitation from 10-11 AM in the church.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Muscular Dystrophy Association at https://www.mda.org/  or the American Heart Association at https://www.heart.org/ .