Our father John Henry Schruben passed away peacefully at a hospice in Maryland on Sept. 30, 2022. He was 96 years old, and the last of his generation in our large family.
He was born in Stockton, Kansas, on January 19, 1926, the fourth child of Leonard John Schruben and Edna Mary (McKanna) Schruben. He was preceded in death by his parents and siblings Margaret (Sr. Bernard Marie, Sisters of St. Joseph), Leo, and Katherine (Becker). Also preceding him in death were his wife of 58 years, Christine Frances (Copt) Schruben, and two grandchildren Tucker and Alana. He is survived by his children, Phillip, Mary, Paul, Jeffrey, Mark, Thomas, Peter and Emily and their spouses, children, grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. John is also survived by many nieces, nephews, and cousins in the Schruben, Becker, McKanna, Copt, and DeBauge families.
John attended public schools in Kansas, graduating from Stockton High School in May 1943. He served in the United Stated Army from September 1943, to March 1946, and is a World War II Veteran. During his Army service he was enrolled for one year in an Army Engineering training program at Iowa State University. After his initial engineering training, he was sent to the European theater in Nov. 1944, where he served on active duty in England, France, and Germany.
After his Army service, John returned to Kansas, enrolled at Kansas State University in Manhattan in May 1946, graduating in May 1948, with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Architectural Engineering. He later pursued graduate studies in engineering, receiving an M.S. in Civil Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago in 1953.
John and Christine married in Osage City, Kansas on July 22, 1948. They moved to Whiting, Indiana, where John became an architectural engineer with Standard Oil of Indiana, where he was employed until 1955. Upon joining the Skidmore, Owings and Merrill architecture firm in Chicago, Illinois, our growing family moved to Harvey, Illinois, and then Flossmoor, Illinois.
In 1969, John founded an architectural services firm, PSAE MasterSpec, under the auspices of the American Institute of Architects. John and Christine, along with four of their children moved from Illinois to Rockville, Maryland in Sept. 1972. John joined the AIA as a member in 1958 and was named a Fellow in 1972. Following his retirement from the AIA in 1987, the State Department asked him to develop specification systems for American embassies. He retired from the profession of architecture in 1989 to devote his time and energy to diverse woodworking projects and caring for Christine.
Along the way, over his long and productive life, he designed and built everything from tools, puzzles, games, toys, gizmos, homes, and lots of furniture of his own design and restorations of many antiques. Woodworking was his enduring passion and joy. Many family members and friends received from John drawings and building expertise for home additions, remodels, do-overs, etc.
We want to express our deepest gratitude to our brother Jeffrey Schruben for his diligent and loving care of both our parents during their final years, and also to those living nearby, Paul, Thomas, and Ann, for their companionship, care, and comfort.
Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 AM, Tuesday, October 11, 2022, at St. Thomas Catholic Church, followed by burial at St. Thomas Cemetery in Stockton. Visitation will be Monday from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM with a Vigil Service at 7 PM at the funeral home in Stockton.