Obituary of Ivadel Lorraine Schmaus

Ivadel Lorraine McGuire Cleveland Schmaus 99 years old passed away on March 2, 2022 in Sacramento. 

Glen Raley of the First Methodist Church is officiating at the memorial/funeral entombment. March 8, 2022 at Sierra View Mortuary & Memorial Park. 

Ivadel was born in Utica Montana to Carl and Mary Ann (nee Stoutenburg) McGuire on Aug. 5, 1922. She went to elementary school in several towns during the Depression but graduated Grants Pass High School in 1939 at the age of 16. She worked at a Wood Products Company in Grants Pass, Oregon and that is where she met her first husband and father to her girls, Cecil Glen Cleveland; they married in 1941. They had four daughters. While Ivadel still had a young family and living in Olivehurst, she started back to college. She did excellently at Yuba College and got her degree at Sacramento State. She started teaching school in 1962. 

Ivadel was preceded in death by her two husbands, Glen Cleveland and Gordon Schmaus. She also lost her father, mother and all her siblings. Though she was the oldest of 7 children, she was the last to join them. She is survived by her four daughters: dau. Annamay Batty, and grandson Mark Beatty (Kim) great-grandchildren Zachary and Alyssa (Emory) great-great granddaughter, Althea; grandson, Brent Batty (Megan) great grandson, Joshua; and grandson, Greg Batty, great-grandchildren Ivy Rebeka and Benjamin; dau. Cecily Cleveland; dau.Candace Rossi (Bob) grandson Jonathan Rossi (Jen), and granddaughter Ellen Rossi; dau. Fern Goodman and granddaughters, Sarah Goodman and Alexandra Goodman. Also survived by three step-sons whom she loved like her own: Leroy Schmaus and grand children, Marilyn Mounce (Rocky); great grand grandchildren Kasane and Logan; grandson, Dean Schmaus (Brittaney), great grandchildren Connor Lee, Savannah Rae, and Parker Dean; Keith Schmaus (Diane) Keith's daughter, Carmel and her son, Carson; Lawrence Bruce Schmaus (Liz). Ivadel was called Grandma by some, GeeGeeMa by others and Nana by another group. Great blended family. Ivadel had 11 great-grandchildren: Zachary, Alyssa, Kasane, Conner Lee, Savannah Rae, Parker Dean Schmaus, Ivy Rebekah, Benjamin, Dean Rossi, Joshua, and one great-great grandchild, Althea.And she loved every one of those babies. 

Ivadel was an Elementary School teacher for over 20 years in Olivehurst at Ella School and Johnson Park Elementary and after retirement, substituted in Sacramento. Taught ESL classes to Hmong and others needing second language classes. She lived in Sacramento for a while and was docent for the History Center there. That was where she met her second love, Gordon Schmaus. Both were active in the Methodist Church; and found they were both eager to be part of the church and both were widowed. As a Friend of the Preservation of Yuba County History, she did the guided tour of the First United Marysville Methodist Church in 2008. So many clubs and associations. Daughters of 

The Nile, PTA, Retired Teachers, Dolls, Square Dance group (until her 90s.), Stoutenburg-Teller Family Association (ancestry research); After Ivadel married Gordon Schmaus in 1991 she, along with Gordon, became a world traveler. She almost got to every continent except India and Antarctica. The list of countries was amazing. British 

Isles, Spain and Portugal, the Balkans and parts of Russia, the Fiords, The Holy Lands, Turkey, Australia, New Zeeland, Tahiti, Central America, South America, Brazil and Argentina, Peru; China several times and Japan multiple times. There were many days spent in Hawaii. After she retired she also helped in her granddaughters' classrooms and did a report for her great-grand daughter's class using a room mascot (a stuffed bear) as her chronicling sidekick, traveling companion, to South America. The "bear" took notes and reported back to the students where he had been and what he had seen. Always showed a great interest in history and geography. 

On the domestic side, I can hardly believe all the baby hats and booties and blankets she crocheted. She liked to embroider. And she could make upholstery and curtains and made many dresses and outfits for us as we were growing up. Little hooked rugs for the grandson's rooms. Afghans galore. She never forgot a birthday or a graduation. She supported many charities and Veteran's organizations. Loved the church bazaars or rummage sales.. She always bought more items than she needed. 

Ivadel knew poverty as a child but she worked hard and was determined to change her circumstances. With her innate intelligence she found a way to complete her college degree as an adult in spite of many obstacles. Her early years she worked as a helper for board and room as a housemaid. She and her sister both worked from the time they were twelve. The people they worked for, luckily were kind people. They also worked in the hop fields in the Summer to make extra money. To help pay for college as an adult she worked Summers in the cannery or frozen foods packing. She was thrilled when she became a teacher and never really stopped being one. 

So many more things I could write about my mother. Endlessly interested. She loved to square dance and she loved the world of travel and she loved to read and she loved her Lord our God. She loved the church and she loved her girls her acquired sons and all of her grand children and great-grands and great-great grands. She loved life and she lived life for as long as she could. (in her last days she always seemed to be fascinated by a breeze blowing the leaves of any nearby tree. She would point to the moving leaves and say " the glory of God.") 

This is a poem she wrote in 1956:

A sudden breeze outside my window Rustles the leaves It is Autumn A California valley Autumn Here summer does not Die in a last glorious Burst of glory Just a gentle sigh and it is gone Reminding me of how Quickly our green years pass But it has been said 

In death there is life. Is this consolation