Lore Schaefer
Lisa Onyx
One of the best reasons to golf with the Lady 18ers is the opportunity to play with people you might not otherwise meet. Not only do you learn what brought them to SunBird, but you hear some incredible stories of their past. One of our most tenured members of the Lady 18ers, Lore Schaefer, is a great example of someone who has lived through some very difficult times early in her life, but was able to persevere.
Lore was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1933. Growing up under the German Reich, it was mandatory for Lore to join the Hitler Youth organization. In 1943, when Lore was 10, her mother moved Lore and her sisters out of their apartment in Hamburg to a family home in the country. Shortly after they left, their apartment was bombed, and they lost everything. Lore’s father was in the German Army in Africa at this time and did not know for six months if his family had survived the bombing.
Lore attended a country school with all ages in the same classroom until she was 14. Lore attended higher education in Germany where she learned to speak English. Several years after the war, in 1951, Lore’s family bought an apartment and moved back to Hamburg. Lore’s father became a carpenter, and she got her first job at a banking institution for businesses as a machine bookkeeper.
Afraid of communism moving into all of Germany, Lore’s family applied for United States citizenship in 1953. The process took about one year, and the family immigrated to Mt. Prospect, Ill., sponsored by her dad’s brother. At 21 years old, Lore obtained a job in banking in Des Plaines, Ill. On her walk to work every day, she met her future husband George, and they were married in 1957.
Lore and George were married for 50 years before he passed away from Alzheimer’s in 2008. They lived in Des Plaines, Ill., San Diego, Calif., and officially retired in Portland, Ore., in 1985. Lore started golfing in 1985 when she was in her late 40s. The Schaefers found SunBird through friends in Oregon and bought the 10th home offered by Robson in 1990. The roads weren’t completed in SunBird, so they had to wait to move in until the second access road was available, due to fire laws.
Lore has been a member of the Lady 18ers golf league for 30 years, acting as the treasurer and secretary for several years. Lore won the SunBird Cup in 2003 and has three SunBird hole-in-ones to her name: one on hole 13 and two on hole 14. She also participated in several shoot-outs over the years. Her favorite part of being a member of the Lady 18ers is the camaraderie within the group. She currently plays three days a week and shot her age of 88 earlier this year! Lore has been running the Monday Gals group since 2016, and plays with the Couples League on Fridays. Lore has a summer home in Overgaard, Ariz., and is also a member at the Snowflake Golf Club.
Other fun facts about Lore:
* Favorite SunBird hole: 12 on a daily basis and 4 because she birdied from 100 yards out
* Favorite golfers to watch on TV (past or present): Greg Norman, Fred Couples, and Jordan Spieth
* Nicest golf course she has played: White Mountain Country Club in Pinetop, Ariz.
* Lore was a member of the Tennis Club from 1993 until 2010.