Otto August Schaper Jr., February 8, 1934 – July 30, 2021.
Otto died in Griffin Hospital, Derby, CT with his daughter Carol by his side.
Otto was born in Bridgeport Hospital, the only son of first generation German immigrants Johanna and Otto August Schaper Senior. He was brought up on the family’s farm in the Quaker Farms section of Oxford, CT. He was an Eagle Scout and active in 4H.
Otto attended Bullard Havens technical school in Bridgeport and trained to become a tool and die maker. He interrupted his career from 1953 – 1955 to serve the Army at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, CO, where he earned a medal of Commendation. He worked as a tool and die maker at companies like Bond Rubber, Sikorsky Aircraft, and Hubbell Incorporated.
He coached womens’ bowling during his bachelor days.
He met and married Noelle Sutherland of Rowayton in 1965 and soon moved to a new home in Oxford. Their daughter Carol was born in 1969, and was a frequent visitor to Otto’s parents, who sold their farm and retired to Southbury.
Otto ran several home-based businesses, including computer consulting and other ventures after taking early retirement in the 1990s.
After a serious car accident in 2016, Otto gave up driving and moved in with his daughter in Southbury, selling the house he’d had built in Oxford. He greatly enjoyed spending Saturday afternoons visiting with the product demonstrators at the Derby BJ’s.
He was looking forward to resuming his social life with “the lunch bunch” at Wendy’s in Derby when Covid restrictions eased enough.
In lieu of flowers, Otto’s family has requested donations to the Griffin Hospital Development Fund or the American Heart Association. A memorial service will be held in the near future.
