In Memory of Conrad Schatte

I don't expect you knew Raddy. He was the husband of Mary, one of hubby's classmates. We often saw Mary and Raddy while on the road in one of our various camping conveyances. Raddy and Mary also traveled in a motorhome, but we actually never had the occasion to camp with them.

Displayed at the Guest Book table. 

We last saw Raddy and Mary in the fall of 2022. They had recently moved to Daytona, and were living in an oceanside condo. Raddy had grown up there, having parents who ran a beach-side hotel. 

Mary told us at that time that doctors had recently determined that Raddy was suffering from dementia. I'm not certain if they knew what nature of dementia he had. When he passed away we learned that he had FTD or frontotemporal degeneration. Recently, ABC ran a special with Diane Sawyer entitled the Unexpected Journey, which shares Bruce and Emma Willis' struggle with this disease.

The memorial was short and truly very sweet. Large screen TV's or projectors ran a slide show of many pictures showing Raddy at all ages, from infancy to shortly before he passed away. The pictures highlighted many of the memories his friends shared.

Mary always had a knack for tasteful decorating. She pulled a lot together in a beautiful display of memorabilia capturing Raddy's life: from racing and restoring cars, to awards and mementos from his long career at Disney World, to his life as a father of two sons, and as the founder of the Cool Grandfather's Club. 

I shared Raddy's memorial for two reasons, first to help raise awareness of frontotemporal degeneration, and secondly to remind us all to live our lives, and love fully.