Schodde, Frederick H. "Fred"
1888-1949 | Merchant
Frederick "Fred" Henry Schodde was born in Wehdem, Germany on March 24, 1888, to Unk Schodde and Wilhelmina Unk Schodde.[1] He immigrated to the United States, at the age of seven, with his parents in 1895.
On October 25, 1913, Schodde married Marie Buhler in Twin Falls, Idaho. She was born in Zurich, Switzerland on January 25, 1889.[2] Fred and Marie Schodde's two daughters were Antoinette, born in 1915, and Virginia, born in 1917.
Frederick Schodde and his family first arrived in Alaska in 1915, where he spent two years in Juneau and Kanatak. In Juneau, he worked at the Peerless Bakery. He opened a store he called the Green Front in Kanatak in 1916. In Anchorage, Schodde and his wife, Marie, opened a bakery, but sold it within a year of his arrival. During World War I, he was employed for a time at City Bakery and Coffee House (C Street between 4th and 5th Avenue) in Anchorage, owned by Raso and Company.[3]
Then the Schoddes opened Schodde’s Green Front store at the northwest corner of 4th Avenue and C Street.[4] The store served as the Schoddes home for many years as they developed their business. They sold candy, ice cream, newspapers, notions, school supplies and gift items. By World War II, the name had been changed to Schodde’s Variety Store but it remained at the same location.[5] They also operated one of the few gasoline stations in town, with two hand-operated pumps on the sidewalk in front of the store.[6]
The Schoddes were one of the first families to import an automobile into Anchorage. Marie Schodde was the first woman in town to obtain a driver's license, and drove until she was eighty years old. She drove her car for years and enjoyed motor touring when not busy with gardening, school work, or participating in other civic or social activities.[7]
Marie Schodde served two terms on the Anchorage School Board (1938-1941). During her two terms on the school board, she served as treasurer.[8] She was also active in other civic affairs.
Frederick Schodde was a member of the Anchorage Elks Lodge. In his obituary, the Anchorage Daily Times reported that during World War II, he was an “active member” of the Alaska Territorial Guard. After his retirement in 1942, he devoted his time to gardening and, with his wife, “made one of the most attractive gardens in the city.”[9]
Frederick Henry Schodde died on July 5, 1949, in Anchorage, after reportedly suffering a heart attack. Marie Schodde died on October 10, 1975, in Anchorage. They are both buried in the Elks Tract, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery.[10] In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her daughter, Virginia Schodde Davey (1917-1947). They were survived by their daughter, Marie Antoinette “Toni” Schodde Petersen (1915-1980).[11] Schodde Street, in the Municipality of Anchorage, is named in honor of the family.[12]
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Endnotes
[1] Draft registration card, Fred H. Schoode [Schodde], Juneau, AK, August 25, 1917, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1509, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Roll AK-2, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed September 21, 2016).
[2] Marie Schodde, Master Burial List, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, Municipality of Anchorage, http:// http://hhs.muni.org/MPCWebMap (accessed September 21, 2016); Marie Schodde, U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed September 20, 2016); and John P. Bagoy, Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1935 (Anchorage: Publications Consultants, 2001), 139-140.
[3] Draft registration card, Fred H. Schoode [Schodde], Juneau, AK, August 25, 1917, National Archives Microfilm Publication M1509, World War I Selective Service System Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918, Roll AK-2, U.S., World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed September 21, 2016); and [Anchorage Directory, 1917] [n.p.: 1917], iii and 21, in Bruce Merrell, compiler, Alaska Territorial Telephone Books, 1906-1958: A Collection on Microfiche [microform] (Anchorage: Anchorage Municipal Libraries, 1989).
[4] After the Green Front Store was sold by the Schoddes, it was operated under the name of State Mercantile. See, “Frederick Schodde Pioneer Resident, Succumbs at 61,” Anchorage Daily Times, July 6, 1949, 4.
[5]Fond Memories of Anchorage Pioneers, Vol. 1 (Anchorage: Pioneers of Alaska, Igloo 15, Auxiliary 4, 1996), 68.
[6] “Frederick Schodde Pioneer Resident, Succumbs at 61,” Anchorage Daily Times, July 6, 1949, 4; and John P. Bagoy, Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1935 (Anchorage: Publications Consultants, 2001), 139-140.
[7] Phyllis Carlson, Mike Kennedy, and Cliff Cernick, Anchorage: The Way It Was (Anchorage: Historic Landmark Preservation Commission, 1981), 35.
[8] “Dr. Walkowski is Board President,” Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, April 20, 1940, 5, https://newspapers.com/image/4527047 (accessed September 21, 2016); and Helve Enatti, “Anchorage Public Schools, 1915-1951: A Thirty-Six Year School District Development Study,” M.A. thesis, University of Alaska, May 1967, 356.
[9] “Frederick Schodde Pioneer Resident, Succumbs at 61,” Anchorage Daily Times, July 6, 1949, 4; and “Funeral Services for F.H. Schodde Planned Tomorrow,” Anchorage Daily Times, July 7, 1949, 1.
[10] Fred H. Schodde, Alaska, Find a Grave Index, 1841-2012 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed September 20, 2016); and Marie Schodde, Alaska, Find a Grave Index, 1841-2012 [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed September 20, 2016).
[11] Marie Antoinette (“Toni”) Schodde Petersen, U.S., Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current [database on-line], http://ancestry.com (accessed September 20, 2016).
[12] Rae Arno, Anchorage Place Names: The Who and Why of Streets, Parks, and Places (Anchorage: Todd Communications, 2008), 66.
Sources
This biographical sketch of Frederick H. Schodde is based on an essay which originally appeared in John P. Bagoy's Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1935 (Anchorage: Publications Consultants, 2001), 139-140. See also the Fred Schodde file, Bagoy Family Pioneer Files (2004.11), Box 7, Atwood Resource Center, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Anchorage, AK. Photographs courtesy of the Schodde family. Edited by Mina Jacobs, 2012. Note: edited, revised, and expanded by Bruce Parham, September 21, 2016.
Preferred citation: Bruce Parham, ed., “Schodde, Frederick H. ‘Fred’, “Cook Inlet Historical Society, Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1940, http://www.alaskahistory.org.
Major support for Legends & Legacies, Anchorage, 1910-1940, provided by: Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Atwood Foundation, Cook Inlet Historical Society, and the Rasmuson Foundation. This educational resource is provided by the Cook Inlet Historical Society, a 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt association. Contact us at the Cook Inlet Historical Society, by mail at Cook Inlet Historical Society, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, 625 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99501 or through the Cook Inlet Historical Society website, www.cookinlethistory.org.