Norman Carl Anschuetz

Norman Carl Anschuetz, formerly (yet forever) of East Tawas, died in Rochester, N.Y., on April 6, 2024. He was 96.
Norm was born at home in East Tawas on Sept. 11, 1927 to Clara (Zuehlsdorff) and Anton Anschuetz. He was the baby of the family, the lone boy with three much older sisters. Norm grew up in East Tawas, graduating East Tawas High School in 1945 and entering the Navy as soon as he turned 18 a few months later.
He was a proud World War II veteran who credited the GI Bill with enabling him to attend Michigan State University after the war. He earned a BA from MSU and later an MA from the University of Michigan.
In 1951 Norm married Mary Schuhmacher, who spent her summers in Tawas City, where her parents ran the Pine Haven cabins. (They met on a blind date set up by Pat and Dick Haglund – ""Aunt Pat and Uncle Dick"" to their children). During their first few years of marriage, they lived with Norm's father in the house where Norm was born.
Norm spent much of his career working as a communicator and manager in the military-industrial complex. From 1956 to 1965, he worked for Bendix Corporation at the Naval Industrial Reserve Weapons Plant in Mishawaka, Ind., to provide the Navy with its first long-range surface-to-air missile protection (TALOS).
Norm's next assignments, from 1966 to 1972, were in support of NASA's Apollo program. He spent several months at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla., for the Bendix Launch Support Division before joining the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) team at the Bendix Aerospace Division in Ann Arbor. The team produced seven scientific instrument packages that U.S. astronauts placed on the moon.
From 1973 to 1983, Norm worked at Bendix World Headquarters in Southfield, retiring early when Allied Corporation took over Bendix. He closed out his career at General Dynamics Land Systems in Warren as a group leader in management systems and procedures as GDLS moved into design and production of the M-1 Abrams tank models.
Despite his success in the military-industrial complex, Norm probably most enjoyed his first job right after college, with the Detroit and Mackinac Railway. He had grown up with the company: His father and many family members worked for the D&M (sometimes he tagged along), and he often took the train to Bay City to visit his grandmother. For one assignment, Norm worked with local artists to create a character symbolizing the universal North American railroader: Mackinac Mac. Mac became an advertising/public relations mascot for the D&M that lives on today.
Norm retired in 1988, moving from Ann Arbor to East Tawas, then to Lehigh Acres, Fla., and in 2005 back to the Tawas area. During retirement he loved singing bass in community and church choirs. Reading the Wall Street Journal became a morning ritual and stock trading a new hobby. He was active in local chapters of Kiwanis and TOPS; served on the Baldwin Township Planning Board; and was chaplain in the American Legion Post 211 Honor Guard.
After Mary's death in 2015, Norm lived on this own for three years. It was a new experience for a man who had gone from his boyhood home to the Navy, then to college and a fraternity, then back to his boyhood home before marrying and starting his own family. He wasn't used to being alone and taking care of himself. He did it, but it wasn't easy.
So in 2018, Norm and his Chihuahuas, Muchacho and Amigo, moved to Rochester, N.Y., to live with daughters Lori and Celia and their Bedlington terrier, Bertie. He became a regular at the VA gym, often getting rides from other veterans. He joined the Chorus of the Genesee, a barbershop chorus, which he cherished for the camaraderie, music, and learning opportunities. Sadly, the pandemic halted these activities, and when they resumed, Norm found it difficult to participate.
Still, he embraced Western New York, becoming a fan of the Buffalo Bills, Finger Lakes Dry Riesling wines, and Rochester-made Abbott's frozen custard and Karma hot sauces. And he had more time to indulge his creative side, writing poems and composing songs for birthdays, graduations, and other life events.
Norm's poems and songs, often silly, reflected his deep love for his children. Almost every day he'd ask, ""Did you hear from anyone today? Krut? Lizer? Chris?"" They were all different, and he was proud of each one: The user experience project manager/mother(f***er) whom he accused of parent/child role reversal when he moved to Rochester; the PhD archaeologist who dabbles in making wine, beer, spirits, movie scripts, and pottery; the peripatetic freelance musician who sat in Broadway pits and now routinely hikes more than 10 miles; the globe-trotting executive who became an uncommon rancher raising lavender – and lavender chickens. Norm kept a file folder labeled ""Achievements by Grandchildren."" And his face lit up when new pictures of his great-granddaughters arrived.
Norm had a sense of humor, and it's a good thing. His children called him ""Old Man"" long before it was true, and they delighted in teasing him by telling ""Daddy Stories"" that capture family lore.
Norm spent July in East Tawas during most of his Rochester years, renewing friendships, enjoying his favorite restaurants, and gazing at the lake. Proud of his German heritage and possessed of an amazing memory, he started the Georg and Liz Memorial Luncheon at Real Seafood in Bay City to honor his grandparents and pass on family history to his children, nieces, nephews, and future generations. Many of his family stories are also stories of the Tawas area.
Norm was preceded in death by his wife, Mary; his son, Norman II; his sisters, Eunice, Virginia, and Shirley; and his parents. He is survived by his children, Lori of Rochester, N.Y.; Kurt (Marcia) of Albuquerque, N.M.; Leise (David) Ballou of Towson, Md.; and Christian (Michelle) of Grayling; ""adopted"" daughters, Celia Easton of Rochester, N.Y., and Christa Meixner of Kaiserslautern, Germany; grandchildren, Nate (Juliana), Jeff (Kelly), Natalie (Zach), Emma (Dimitri), Alex, and Zach (Bridget); ""adopted"" grandson, Marc Fleischmann of Altdorf, Germany; great-granddaughters June Poppy and Kaia Marie; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
As Norm requested, cremation has taken place. He did not want a funeral – but he didn't say anything about a party. His family plans a celebration of life in East Tawas later this year.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to the LT Norman C. Anschuetz Memorial Scholarship at the University of Michigan (https://donate.umich.edu/drJ3W) or write gift code 790632 on check and mail to U-M Gift and Records Administration, 3003 S. State St., Suite 8000, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1288); the Chorus of the Genesee, PO Box 333, Webster, NY 14580; or Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church, 401 Main St., East Tawas, MI 48730.