With another week passing since the tragic loss of Millstadt legend Larry Schubert, the community has seen a further outpouring of appreciation for him, with his loved ones sharing fond memories of the community’s beloved butcher.

Among those who spoke with the Republic-Times about Larry was his son Bryan, owner of Millpond Brewing in Millstadt.

Bryan offered details of his father’s life, describing how he was born and raised in Millstadt, living on a farm just outside of town and growing up with a strong religious education at St. James Catholic School in Millstadt and Althoff Catholic High School in Belleville.

He also spoke about how Larry met Marlene. As Bryan recalled, his father couldn’t think of her name on their first date, giving her the nickname Mabel.

Bryan further said his mother has long told the story of how she dismissed Larry at first, thinking, as Bryan said, “‘Whatever, he can call me whatever he wants. I’ll never see this guy again.’”

The two were married for nearly 50 years.

Larry worked for some time at Streck Packing Co. through his early years, and it was there he found his passion for and honed his skills in the art of sausage making.

When Streck closed its doors, he and Mabel decided to open Schubert’s Packing Co. in Millstadt.

As Bryan said, the business was originally meant to be something of a part-time job for the family.

“They opened Schubert’s in 1978, and then they added on. It was really just going to be a small business that he was going to farm and then slaughter for local farmers in the wintertime, but it was very, very popular from the beginning,” Bryan said. “My parents actually ended up adding on to the butcher shop every year for the first eight years they were open. The rest is history.”

Larry was known throughout Millstadt and beyond for the passion he had for his work, that mustache of his becoming an icon for folks in the area who have enjoyed Schubert’s sausage and other products over the years.

Bryan emphasized the love his father had for this work, noting how it never really left him even as he handed over the keys to the business.

“Sausage-making was his passion,” Bryan said. “He was very, very good at it. Over the course of 37 years, it’s gotta be your passion if you’re gonna keep on doing it… He was always in his element when he was making sausage, and that even extends to after they sold the butcher shop. He actually put a butcher shop on my parents’ property.”

While Larry was lauded for his skills in the area, his work also earned him plenty of recognition and accolades elsewhere.

Bryan noted how Larry didn’t have a college education himself, but  thanks to the joy and energy he brought to the field, he wound up serving as a font of knowledge when it came to meat handling and processing.

“As the business grew, he got more involved in the Illinois Association of Meat Processors and then the American Association of Meat Processors,” Bryan said. “He really gained a lot of respect throughout the country. He would go to different universities like the University of Illinois and Perdue and Nebraska and their meat science departments and would teach classes for a few days during the week depending on what they were doing.”

Bryan further spoke to his father’s reputation, recalling how a trip to a meat processing convention in Kansas City, Mo., over the summer had him reconnecting with many individuals with whom he shared his wisdom and experience over the years.

Running Schubert’s for nearly 40 years, Bryan said Larry stepped away from the business not because he was bored but rather to simply enjoy his time more.

Still handling meat thanks to the butcher setup he had at home, Larry also threw himself into gardening and beekeeping during retirement, taking the fruits of his labor to the farmer’s market.

With his greater free time, he was also able to further enjoy his other great passion of woodworking.

Bryan described how Larry’s work there contributed greatly to Millpond. He put together the bar, tables, shelves – seemingly everything but the building itself. Larry also fashioned quite a few cutting boards for folks in the community.

Larry’s retirement also allowed him plenty of time with his family – particularly his grandkids.

Bryan spoke quite a bit about Larry’s relationship with his family. Speaking personally, he emphasized his contributions toward Millpond, not only contributing physically but also constantly talking it up in the community or spending time there to welcome patrons. Bryan also mentioned his father got a large tattoo of the brewery on his arm.

Bryan described Larry as a constant supporter of him and his sisters.

“He’s really kinda been that person our entire lives, to my sisters as well,” Bryan said. “He was always very supportive and always a big cheerleader to us and what we were doing, we were accomplishing in our personal lives.”

As many knew, Larry was hardly personable with just his family. Bryan spoke about his place in Millstadt, not just among the Optimists or in helping to organize the annual homecoming, but as a beacon of enthusiasm and warmth.

“He never knew a stranger, and also he never wanted you to feel like you weren’t included or that you were a stranger,” Bryan said.

Among Larry’s children, his eldest daughter Angela was also available to speak with the Republic-Times.

She described Larry simply as a “great human being,” saying she never heard him speak ill of someone else and adding he was always available when someone needed a hand.

Angela also offered further insight into Larry’s role as a family man.

“Although he was running a business and getting it off the ground – he opened the butcher shop a week before I was born – I never for one second throughout him building up the business felt like he wasn’t present in everything I did,” Angela said.

Like Bryan, she also spoke about how supportive he was through the years, particularly recalling how he’d always show up for their games even if he had just been busy working at the shop minutes before.

“He would stink, and he would be messy and have worked all day, and he thought it was the funniest thing that he would come to our sports games, and he would sit in the crowd, and no one would sit around him because he stunk so bad,” Angela said. “We didn’t know the difference. All we knew was that he was there.”

That sense of support continued throughout their lives, Angela said. She noted the role he played in her becoming a registered dietician.

“He did what made him happy, and he wanted us to do what made us happy,” Angela said.

She also spoke about how everyone knew him in the community, as he was always happy to talk.

Her husband, Barry Jones, also spoke about Larry, saying he was not only a father-in-law but also something of a mentor as they knew each for 25 years.

Jones looked back on their relationship fondly, recalling how he helped with deliveries when Larry still owned Schubert’s or how the family enjoyed plenty of BBQs.

He also discussed trips to Hermann, Mo., for the annual Wurstfest, with Larry having such a presence there – regularly explaining the intricacies of sausage making – that the event was event dubbed “Schubertfest” one year.

Jones further spoke about Larry as a mentor when it came to the family pasttime of hunting. He said Larry, though the oldest guy on the trip, would always be the first guy out of bed and was always eager to do what needed to be done.

Jones also described Larry as a loving grandfather. He discussed all the time he spent with his grandkids hunting as well as how he passed on his passion and knowledge of butchering to the younger generations.

Kevin Colbert, one of Larry’s many friends, spoke about how they knew each other for 50 years through their kids going to school together.

He described Larry as outgoing and approachable, always welcoming others. As Colbert said, he loved to poke fun at others in a friendly way and was always happy to take a ribbing himself.

“He was that guy that people were just drawn to, and it was a remarkable thing to watch,” Colbert said. “He was a unique individual. I’ve never met anybody quite like him.”

 On a similar note, Colbert also spoke about how generous and kind Larry was. He said he was the sort of person that “you just assumed would always be around.”

“Larry just never said ‘No,’” Colbert said. “He was bigger than life from that standpoint, and he just brightened up everybody.”

Offering some fond memories of Larry, he looked back on the family float trip tradition that started back when he, Larry and two other fathers went on a trip with their seventh grade sons.

Colbert said he’s been with Larry on about 60 such trips – the final one just a few weeks ago.

He recalled how, near the end of that last trip, Larry said something that will stay in his mind for some time.

“Larry kinda just looked around and said, ‘I wish I could do this forever.’ Of course none of us knew anything about his situation,” Colbert said. “I think he might have sensed something, but he didn’t even know. That’ll stick with me forever and ever. It was just one of the sweetest memories I’ll ever have.”

Schubert’s Smokehouse owner Dave Kossina also shared fond memories of Larry, saying how he came to acquire the business as his background is in financial services, helping small businesses with investment strategies and other matters.

He originally approached Larry and Mabel to offer these services, learning that none of their kids were looking to take over the business.

Kossina spoke with his own kids about Schubert’s, and they wound up working for Larry for five years, learning the trade before buying the business a decade ago.

He discussed how much Larry taught him about both the art and the science behind sausage making, their friendship growing through the years.

“Larry was a best friend, mentor and like a father figure all rolled into one,” Kossina said.

Kossina also spoke about Larry in an incredibly positive light, noting the impact he had on those around him.

“If you ever met Larry, you were a friend from day one, and all the years I’ve known him, I don’t think Larry ever had a bad day, and he never met anybody that he couldn’t get along with,” Kossina said.

Speaking on Larry’s legacy, Kossina said they have no intentions of changing the business’s name or the signature mustache logo anytime soon, commending both Larry and Mabel for what they managed to do with the shop.

Kossina further described how he hopes to maintain the legacy he’s inherited.

“Whenever I make anything we make in-house – which is everything – I always have Larry on my mind, and I’m like, ‘OK, I have to make this just like Larry did,’ and I want to keep that tradition of what he did and what he started, I want to pay that forward, and I know my boys want to pay that forward when I retire,” Kossina said.

With such love and legacy left behind, Bryan offered a sentiment which seems to capture the impact Larry had on his loved ones and his entire community.

“He’s one of those people to where I don’t know that he ever had a bad day. He always carried a smile on his face,” Bryan said. “Every meal he ever had was the best thing he ever ate. Every sunset he ever saw was the best sunset he’d ever seen in his life. He was just a very, very positive person.”