Amos Schaefer Rites Set; Headed Coronado Schools

Memorial services will be held Monday for Amos E. (Deac) Schaefer, former superintendent of the Coronado Unified School District.

Schaefer, known for his championship football teams at Coronado High School, died Tuesday at his home of Parkinson’s disease. He was 89.

Schaefer was born in Alva, Okla., on Feb. 7, 1901. He was graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Oklahoma and a master’s degree in history from the University of Southern California. He also attended Stanford University and the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Schaefer and his family had vacationed in California while he was growing up in Oklahoma, his wife Irene said. He moved to San Diego in 1926 after a brief stay in San Francisco because he wasn’t much of an Oklahoma farmer, she added.

A resident of Coronado for 64 years, he served as a teacher, coach, principal and superintendent of Coronado schools for 34 of those years. “It was his life in those days,” his wife said.

Schaefer was particularly proud of his 10 years as Coronado High School coach, she said. He led three teams to championships and three others to co-championships. People didn’t have television in those days, so the games were a great source of entertainment and community pride, she said.

World War II intervened in 1942, and Schaefer served until April, 1946, as a lieutenant colonel in Army intelligence. His decorations included a Bronze Star for meritorious service during military operations in northern France.

Schaefer was appointed superintendent of Coronado schools in 1948 and served as the district administrator for 12 years until his retirement in 1960.

“We spent the next 25 years traveling and doing the things we wanted to do,” Irene Schaefer said.

During his years in Coronado, Schaefer was a member of the San Diego Bachelor’s Club, the Cotillion Club, the Coronado Rotary Club and Phi Gamma Delta fraternity.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years; two daughters, Pamela Oates of El Cajon and Suzann Bartels of Honolulu, and eight grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. at Christ Episcopal Church, 1208 9th St., Coronado. Interment will be at Glen Abbey Memorial Park in Bonita. Instead of flowers, the family asks that donations be sent to the National Parkinson Foundation or the San Diego Hospice.