Wayne Leo Schrader, who passed away at home on December 15, 2020, was always ready for two things: a new adventure and some good-natured competition. Born on April 3rd, 1932 to Walter Schrader and Lillian Oberum, in the middle of the Great Depression in South Bend, Indiana, Wayne learned from his parents and two older sisters, Nadine and Joyce, that hard work and family were the means to a happy life. He never shied away from a new opportunity; after serving in the U.S. Army in Korea from 1951-1953 as a company clerk, he used the GI Bill to attend Indiana University, where he earned a degree in radio and television production and met his future wife, Mary Catherine Bradley.

They met at an IU extension campus, then moved to the main campus, getting to know each other as president and secretary of a college club, then bonding over their shared interest in coffee, theater, and Indiana University basketball. They were married on August 17, 1957. While Mary Catherine taught high school in Battle Creek, Michigan, Wayne opened a Studebaker dealership with two partners, eventually moving to Rockville, MD, to open a new showroom. There, Wayne and Mary Catherine fell in love with the Washington, DC, area, where they would put down roots and raise five children. In 1966, Wayne started his long career with the W. Bell Company, a local catalogue showroom, starting as a buyer and eventually moving into an executive position as the merchandising manager.

That position opened up the potential for travel all over the United States and abroad, from Europe to China, in search of the right goods to stock in W. Bell's centerpiece showrooms at K and L Streets in Washington, D.C. and beyond. In the late '80s, Wayne left W. Bell and went into business with his three sons and daughter-in-law, bringing his sales and marketing expertise to The Cork Street Tavern, a restaurant in Winchester, VA, and BioGreen, a lawncare and sprinkler company that still serves customers all over the D.C. area today. In 1990, Wayne and Mary Catherine moved into their dream home on Lake Holiday, outside of Winchester, where Mary Catherine hosted an annual St. Patrick's Day party featuring her famous corned beef and cabbage, and Wayne taught a new generation of Schrader kids how to fish, build backyard forts, and cheer for the Redskins, the Nationals, and Indiana basketball.

In 1997, Mary Catherine was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer and passed away a few short months after diagnosis. Wayne also retired, and was left with the question of what to do next. At an adult educational event in Pennsylvania, he found the answer when he met Eva Hauptman of Alexandria, VA, who had also recently lost her husband. He liked to say she asked if he wanted to take a walk in the woods, and the rest was history: he had found a partner ready to share this new, unexpected chapter of life, who was as eager to explore what the world had to offer as he was.

Eva and Wayne traveled extensively, most importantly to Spain, a part of the world Wayne had never seen before that was especially important to Eva, who grew up in a Spanish family in New York City and taught Spanish for many years. They eventually moved to Ashby Ponds in Ashburn, VA, where Wayne was known as an enthusiastic proponent of the card game euchre, recruiting and organizing residents into regular games, and a ferocious bocce ball competitor, eventually winning the fiercely contested bocce championship.

Wayne will be remembered as many things: a wonderful partner, husband, father, and grandfather; a traveler and explorer who never lost sight of how much there was to see in the world; a lover of dogs, from Taffy to Sasha to Brandy; a man with the unparalleled ability to be the first out of a crowded parking lot after a sports event; a person always committed to making sure everyone around him was having fun, from the many participants in raucous Schrader family Christmases to each and every person who joined him for a hand of euchre.

Over the last ten years, Wayne wrote down many of his memories of growing up in northern Indiana, raising his children, and living in the world to share with his family. He ended one of those essays in 2012 by observing that "It has been a wonderful life, and the best is still coming." It is in that spirit that his family remembers his legacy. Wayne is survived by his partner of 23 years, Eva Hauptman of Ashburn; his sister, Joyce Clark of Venice, FL; his five children, Stephen Schrader of Stephenson, VA, Scott Schrader of Stephenson, VA, David Schrader of Stephens City, VA, Susan Schrader of Woodbine, MD, and Diane Schrader of Calabasas, CA; 12 grandchildren; and 7 great-grandchildren. In lieu of flowers, please donate to Capital Caring Hospice to honor his memory.