Harm Henry Schlomer, Sr.

December 31, 1911 - July 09, 2010

Harm Henry Schlomer, Sr. Obituary Harm was born December 31, 1911 and baptized in the German Methodist Church in Connell, Washington. The first school he attended was in the country grade school across the road from his house. In 1919 his family moved to Thornton, Washington to get out of the "dust bowl" conditions around Connell. While there, he attended the Thornton Grade School and the Horn Grade Schools, respectively, from the 2nd to the 7th grade. The Horn Grade School was originally where the Rest Stop (Horn School) is located south of Rosalia. In 1924 the family moved to a newly purchased farm on the Little Spokane River, just north of Chattaroy. A road marker on the current highway refers to Schlomer Road where the family home was located. Harm graduated from Chattaroy Grade School in June 1925. His father moved the family to Spokane to register the children at Lewis & Clark High School where Harm graduated in June 1929. He attended Washington State College from 1929 to 1931. After his father died in 1931, Harm completed his B.A. degree at Whitworth College. At WSC he joined the Sigma Chi Fraternity. Later in life he was very active on behalf of the WSU chapter and national fraternity for many years, where he received the honor of Constantine Sig. In the fall of 1933 he enrolled at University of Washington in Seattle where he received an M.A. degree. At that time, German universities were advertising to American students that upon enrolling in the university, one could take their enrollment papers to the American Express and the German government would match funds, meaning they would double money being brought into the country. Harm took his bride, the former Harriett Hancox, to Germany where he enrolled in the University of Heidelberg (Ruprecht Karls Universitat Heidelberg). In the summer of 1936, he completed his Ph. D. degree. He returned to the U.S. in the fall of 1936 to help Dr. Schlauch organize the first Junior College in Spokane, located on the South Hill. To supplement his meager earnings as a teacher, he worked at John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company. After three years, two of which he served as Dean of the Junior College, he joined the faculty of Gonzaga University for two years as head of the German Department. Following Harm's time at Gonzaga, Dr. Samuel E. Weaver, president of Great Northwest Life Insurance Company and close family friend, hired Harm to be the company's Education Director in charge of training agents. He worked his way up within the company and was promoted to Director of Agencies, licensed to do business in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, California, South Dakota, Arizona, Utah and Hawaii. Later, Harm was appointed to the Board of Directors. To meet the needs of clients wanting other types of insurance policies, Harm and two others, incorporated The Inland Empire Agency Company. He also formed a second corporation, The National Consolidated Development Corporation. This second corporation was created to build or buy shopping centers and included part of the Uptown Richland Shopping Center, which later merged into a listed company. In 1968, Harm renewed his acquaintance with Dr. Walter Johnson, president of the Spokane Falls Community College. Harm and Dr. Johnson had previously met when Johnson, as a young college student, had worked for Harm's cousin George Harder in Kahlotus, Washington, sheering sheep. At age 57, Harm became the head of the new German Department at the Spokane Falls Community College. In September 1969, he joined the Kiwanis Club of Downtown Spokane and was advisor to the Circle K club at the college, where he enjoyed many years of active membership. Fluent in the German language, and a prolific writer of German and Russian German history of settlers in the Northwest, Harm was instrumental in bringing the German City Lubeck into the Spokane Sister City Society. He traveled to Germany on behalf of the Spokane Mayor, Ron Baer, to affirm that alliance. Other memberships include the Junior Chamber of Commerce, B.O.F. (life member) and the Westerns (historic society) for which he wrote, among other stories, "The Inland Empire Russian Germans". He was a life member of both the Franklin County Historic Society and the WSU Cougar Club. Harm was President and founder of the Spokane Lubeck Sister City Society. He served as master of the Masonic Lodge and was a member of the Scottish Rite and Shrine. Three children survive him from his first marriage to Harriett Hancox. Harm H. Schlomer, Jr (Judy) Spokane, WA; Carolyn Parks (Newton) Wenatchee, WA; Linda Forsyth Weidenhamer (Bob) Falls Village, CT. Grandchildren include Harm H. Schlomer III (Shelly) Spokane, WA; Erika Schlomer Fischer (Ron) Hollywood, CA; Andrea Forsyth Randhahn, Bethel, CT; Ian Forsyth, Honolulu, HI; Greg Parks, Wenatchee, WA; Julie Parks Jacoby (Dutch) Wenatchee, WA; He had eight great-grandchildren: Jacob, Amy, and Riley Schlomer; Irena Fischer; Rebecca and Jason Jacoby; Maximillian and Emily Randhahn. His second wife Marie survives him along with son Richard Schlomer Meyer (Rosalyn) Tacoma, WA and his three children, Jennifer, Christina and Robert Schlomer Meyer; daughter Karen Snow (Ken) Cheney, WA, and her daughter Sondra Snow; daughter Lisa Chaddock (Craig), San Diego, CA; Grandson Michael Forsyth preceded Harm in death in 2009. Visitation will be Monday 12noon-5pm and Tuesday 8-1 at Heritage and a Memorial Service will be at 2:00PM Tuesday July 13, 2010 in Heritage Chapel. Funeral Service will be held at 1:00PM Wednesday July 14, 2010 at Church of the Nazarene in Connell, WA with graveside to follow at the Mountain View Cemetery in Connell. Memorials may be made to Sacred Heart Med. Ctr. Oncology Comfort Care or a charity of choice.