Loran "Cork" L. Schumacher

Loran Lee (Cork) Schumacher, 93, of Wamego, Kansas, passed away on Monday, June 19, 2023, at Wellsprings of Westmoreland after several months of declining health.

Born on April 10, 1930 on a farm near Brush Creek, northwest of Louisville, Cork was the third of five children of Lee Schumacher and May Yoos. He was raised on the original Schumacher homestead and attended rural grade schools before attending and graduating Wamego High School in 1948.

While in high school, Cork got reacquainted with Mary Ann Shea, who had lived down the street from him in Louisville while kids. They married on January 3, 1952, and had two children, Loran Lee Jr. and Ann Marie. Cork and Mary Ann were happily married for 59 years before Mary Ann’s passing on January 5, 2009, after a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.

Cork joined the Navy right out of high school for a year in 1949 and re-enlisted with his older brother Lew in 1950, spending the Korean War years in the Navy.  He was initially stationed in San Diego, where his service included playing football, and then attended ET (Electronic Technician) school at Great Lakes Naval Base. During the war, he served in communication maintenance on the Command Light Cruiser, USS Northampton, out of Guantanamo, Cuba traveling throughout the Caribbean.  

After leaving the Navy in early 1954, Cork worked briefly for General Motors in Kansas City in an airplane factory, before joining Philco Corporation in late 1954 as a field engineer involved in the engineering and installation of communications and electronics for the United States Air Force. This new job moved his family first to Alaska and then to the outskirts of Washington, DC. The family continued to live in the outskirts of Washington DC until 1963 when his company moved them to Norwalk, Connecticut where he and Mary Ann raised their two children.

From 1959 - 1985, Lee was a systems engineer for three companies that designed and built communications equipment for the Defense Department. During this time, he worked throughout the United States and Europe, supervising the installation and testing of computers, control towers, radar, microwave systems, and telephone installations for the military, including the engineering and installation of ICBM communications systems for three Air Force bases.  

Cork retired at the age 55. He moved back to Wamego and spent his retirement in Wamego woodworking, playing golf and cards, turkey hunting, traveling and being a caretaker for his wife Mary Ann. He loved spending time with his family and friends.

Cork is survived by his son Lee Jr. and his wife Linda of Madison, CT; his daughter Ann Llewellyn and her husband Brian of Kingwood, TX and Silverthorne, CO; two granddaughters: Lauren Garza and her husband Wes of Kingwood, TX; and Sarah Helling and her husband Michael of Denver, CO; and, two great-granddaughters, Macie and Chloe Garza of Kingwood, TX.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 27, at the First United Methodist Church of Wamego, with burial following in Louisville cemetery. Family will greet friends during a visitation Monday, June 26, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Campanella and Stewart Funeral Home of Wamego.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to a startup of an annual engineering scholarship for a Wamego High School graduate (checks payable to WCF-Cork Schumacher Scholarship Fund), or a charity of your choice, and may be left in care of the funeral home: P.O. Box 48, Wamego, KS 66547.