Lee Schroeder, medical advocate

By Rebecca Jones, Special to the Rocky

Published August 4, 2008 at 9:05 p.m.

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Lee Schroeder offered his services as a volunteer when Parker Adventist Hospital opened its doors in 2004. He spent his time stocking food, delivering magazines to patients, manning the coffee cart, doing all the things good hospital volunteers do.

But while hospital officials were doing a background check on their new volunteer, they uncovered something interesting. It seemed that Mr. Schroeder, a retired businessman who had moved to Aurora from Nebraska with his wife just two years earlier, had volunteered at Nebraska hospitals, too.

"They found out he'd been the chairman of the board of a large hospital system in Lincoln," said Mr. Schroeder's son, Steve, of Albuquerque.

After having coffee with Parker Adventist's CEO, Terry Forde, Mr. Schroeder, coffee cart manager, soon found himself elevated to the hospital's board of directors, and also became chairman of the hospital foundation board, a position he held until his death.

Mr. Schroeder died on July 16 after a stroke. He was 79.

"He was really instrumental in advocating for nursing education," said Forde. "He helped us come up with some unique programs around nursing education. And he helped us bring a healing garden to the hospital. He just had a real interest in serving others in our community, and we're looking for some way to recognize him permanently on our hospital campus."

Mr. Schroeder was born in Hooper, Neb., on Nov. 13, 1928, the youngest of John and Alma Schroeder's four children. He attended Midland College and the University of Nebraska, and was a lifelong Huskers fan.

He married his wife, Betty, in 1948, and began teaching in junior high school in Fullerton, Neb. He later left teaching to become a pharmaceutical sales representative.

Mr. Schroeder eventually rose to the top of the pharmaceutical industry. He was president of Dorsey Laboratories, executive vice president of Sandoz's U.S. pharmacy division, president of Lincoln Drug Company and FoxMeyer Lincoln, and president of Lee Schroeder and Associates.

"He ended up running the pharmaceutical division of Sandoz, and while there he was responsible for the launching of a transplant anti-rejection drug," said his son. "He brought that drug to the market, which was really impressive as far as improving worldwide health."

Throughout his career, he served on the boards of a number of pharmaceutical companies, including MGI Pharma, Indevus Pharmaceuticals and Celgene.

He also endowed the School of Nursing at BryanLGH Health System, a nonprofit medical center in Lincoln, and was on the boards of Lincoln Mutual Insurance and First Tier Bank, and was president of the Lincoln Country Club. He also was active in the Masons and the Lutheran Church.

Steve Schroeder said that despite all his father's many community-related commitments, he always found time for his four children. "My brother and sisters and I were always active in sports growing up, and in spite of all he was doing, my father never missed a game for any of us," he said.

Although a relative newcomer to Colorado, Mr. Schroeder quickly became an ardent Rockies fan. This love led him to make a costly promise last year.

"Dad's got eight grandchildren, and last year, when the Rockies were in the doldrums, he promised to make a substantial gift to each of them if the Rockies made the playoffs. My mother said he was crazy, but it was something he wanted to do."

The Rockies' extraordinary late-season and postseason surge landed them in the World Series, and cost Mr. Schroeder a small fortune. "The last half of the baseball season for him was 'Oh my, oh my!' " his son said.

Mr. Schroeder was preceded in death by his wife in 2007 and by a brother and sister. In addition to his son, Steve, he is survived by his son, Kent Schroeder, of Coppell, Texas; two daughters, Marcia McCown, of Aurora, and Mary Dilley, of Centennial; a sister, Mary Nelson, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, and eight grandchildren.

• August 17, 2008

  9 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  olneyd writes:

  Lee and Betty were the most wonderful folks I knew. For years our family would go to Fairhills MN for summer vacations and would catch up with Lee's latest jokes and Betty's view of the world. We loved them both. They'll be missed.

  Doug, Gail, Chad, and Neil Olney

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