Robert H. Schlesselman: 1922 - 2006 - Helping `thousand kids' was his life by Jeff Long, Tribune staff reporter October 30, 2006
Robert H. Schlesselman arrived in Addison in 1950 and spent the next 2 1/2 decades devoted to helping emotionally disturbed children, first as a teacher and then as principal of Kinderheim School and its successor, Lutherbrook Children's Center. Mr. Schlesselman, 84, died of lung cancer Thursday, Oct. 26, in his Elmhurst home.
"He was very patient," his wife of 62 years, Dolores, said of his years working with children at Lutherbrook. "And very loving. Some were helped. And some weren't."
But under the gentle guidance of Mr. Schlesselman, based upon a strong spiritual foundation, all were given a better chance than they would have had otherwise, said family members and co-workers.
"There's sketches and pictures all over his home," said his son David. "He used to talk about `my thousand kids.' These were kids who had been abandoned, unloved and uncared for."
David Schlesselman and two siblings grew up on the grounds of Lutherbrook, learning firsthand that the best way to help residents was to treat them like everyone wants to be treated.
"Most of these kids were scared and lonely," he recalled. "They just needed to know somebody cared about them."
Mr. Schlesselman, the son of a Lutheran pastor, was born in Chewelah, Wash. The family moved to Concordia, Mo., in 1929.
After Mr. Schlesselman and his wife married in 1944, they moved to Austin, Texas, where he taught in a one-room school. They later moved to Houston, where he was a teacher and assistant principal, before coming to Addison.
Sometimes, a troubled child would run away from Lutherbrook.
"He'd be up at the drop of a hat and off in the car, looking in the place he thought they might be," his wife recalled. "Sometimes he would find them, and sometimes the police would find them. But he was always very forgiving."
Mr. Schlesselman also loved golf and gardening, according to family and friends.
"Even last summer, at 83 years old, he golfed three times a week," his son said. "He was almost to the point where he could shoot his age."
"He was so hard on himself on the golf course, even when it was a good shot," said Gene Svebakken, who in 1978 became executive director of Lutheran Child and Family Services, which oversees Lutherbrook. "I think he was pretty driven. He had high expectations of himself."
Mr. Schlesselman became assistant executive director of Lutheran Child and Family Services in 1977, serving under Svebakken until 1982. That's when Mr. Schlesselman became president of Lutheran Charities Fund. He retired in 1987.
He also is survived by another son, Robert; a daughter, Linda Frey; 11 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Redeemer Lutheran Church, 345 S. Kenilworth Ave., Elmhurst. Friends and family will be received beginning at 9 a.m.
---------- jjlong@tribune.com
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