Remarkable.
Marlene Schams was born in an elevator in a hospital in Columbus, Ohio. “That’s why she had her ups and downs all these years,” quipped her father, Donald Schams. Ms. Schams, 45, a single mother and longtime Rogers Park resident who fought hard to give her son better opportunities, died Thursday, Dec. 23, at St. Joseph Hospital in Chicago after suffering perforated bowel syndrome and difficulty breathing.
For several years, she worked as a cashier and clerk at a T.J. Maxx store. Later, she worked as a clerk and office administrator at a dialysis clinic and more recently worked at Evanston Hospital, where she answered phones and scheduled appointments. An avid reader who loved mystery novels, she strove to get better jobs and better apartments. Through all the changes, one constant was her love and support for her son, Jeffrey, 14, whose father died when he was a toddler. “Jeffrey was her life,” her father said. Ms. Schams attended all of her son’s Little League games, sitting on the sidelines screaming encouragement.
“She was a fighter; she was incredibly tough and determined, and she didn’t have a lot of breaks in life,” said Jonathan Eig, a Chicago-based reporter for The Wall Street Journal, an adult mentor who had helped her son the last six years. Ms. Schams also is survived by a brother, Mark Gary Schams, a stepbrother, Larry McCann, and two stepsisters, Loretta Rupp and Lyda McCann. A graveside service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at Jewish Waldheim Cemetery at 16th Street and South Harlem Avenue, Forest Park.