Clarence Walter Schoenvogel, Jr. - Guestbook

Please accept my sincerest sympathies on Walt’s passing. It was indeed a shock to read of it in Deerfield’s alumni magazine and note how soon it happened after enjoying his company and ever warm spirit at our 45th reunion. He will be sadly missed by all of his classmates. In memory of a kind soul.

I was stalking old Deerfield buddies online recently in a fit of nostalgia when I found out about Walt. I'm so sorry for your loss and, selfishly, for mine, too. It broke my heart to learn of his death.
Walt was a great guy and a wonderful friend, always up for a good time. I remember him as relaxed and easy-going, funny, bright, and with a creative streak that expressed itself in all kinds of entertaining ways.
In our senior year, 1972, there was a group of us, 4-5 guys, who spent most of our down time together. We mostly hung out in Walt's room. Without anyone saying anything, it was kind of understood that he was the leader of the gang -- Top Cat. So many good times and happy memories at Deerfield include Walt.
My condolences to all his family. You and the world have lost someone special.

It was with shock and sadness that I heard of the passing of Mr. Schoenvogel. I had only recently met him, and he was very kind, respectful, and honest. It was a pleasure to be in a business relationship with Walt and his companies. Please know that my thoughts are with his family and associates during this time, and I send blessings and wishes of comfort to them.

So sorry about Walt. I recall working with him on your house and many other projects. He will be missed by all of us.

He was a wonderful person taken much too soon.
So sorry for your loss.
Linda (Reddehase) Borgstedte

To Charlyn,Sally and Trey,
I grew up w/ your Dad, and Aunt Sarah. We used to take swimming lessons way out in the Bottom Area of the cotton fields of Washington County. Our Mothers would car pool us to Mamie Baker's house in between Brenham and College Station. We took lessons from Coach Weeter who was the swimming Coach from A & M. He was a tough old man and we didn't like him much, but we all learned to swim really well! No matter what happened, Walt was always smiling! He had that, "roll w/ the punches personality"! We met up again in his Freshman yr. of BHS. on the tennis team and had fun at our practices. Walt turned into a wonderful man, father, husband and friend, and I am sorry that he passed so young. May he rest in peace and may light perpetual shine on him and all of the departed Saints now and forever more.

TA.

I am so saddened to hear of Walt's passing. Please accept my deepest sympathies.
Charlyn, I will be praying for peace and comfort for you and your family during this difficult time and in time to come.
Verlyn

Charlyn, I am so sorry to hear about Walt!! My heart and prayers are with you and your family in this time of sorrow. May you find comfort in your precious memories.
Love you, Debi

I am so sorry for your loss. Cherish your memories.

Charlyn & Family:

Praying for you and your family during this difficult time.

Kathy

Dear Mrs. Schoenvogel, Sally and Family,
My deepest sympathies and condolences at this dark hour. Please know that no matter how near or far, there are many people thinking of you and holding you all up in our prayers. Again, I am so, so sorry that this has happened and can only imagine how shocking it all is. May God be with all of you right now and always and may you find comfort in knowing you will see each other again.
Much love and many blessings,
Brook Bockhorn Marvin

Dear Schoenvogel Family,
I am so very shocked and saddened to hear of Walt's passing. Just unbelievable. Someone so kind, who always wanted to do what he thought was right. I know he loved you all so very much.
God give you strength, peace, and the assurance of His presence and love,
Pastor Kim

Dear Schoenvogel Family,
I am so very shocked and saddened to hear of Walt's passing. Just unbelievable. Someone so kind, who always wanted to do what he thought was right. I know he loved you all so very much.
God give you strength, peace, and the assurance of His presence and love,
Pastor Kim

Charlyn and family,

I was saddened to hear of Walt's passing. My sincere condolences to the family. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

With Sympathy,

Brenda Beckendorf Doty

Charlyn: I'm so very sorry. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.

Dear Charlyn, I was heartbroken to hear of Walt's death. It was an honor to have known him as a good friend for many years. Walt had many wonderful qualities but his love for the Lord was the one I admired the most. May the Lord give you His peace and comfort during this time of loss and fill you with the assurance that Walt is home with the Lord.
Peace and all blessings...John and Deanna Simms

Walt was a true Gentleman in the true sense of the word. He was always gracious to me. Walt and his family were very nice to me and my family when we first moved here. We have all suffered a great loss and he will be missed. Edward Smith and family.

Charlyn and family,

So sorry to hear of Walt's passing. May God be with you and your family. Thoughts and prayers.

Sincere condolences,
Butch & Cindy

Charlyn

My condolences to you and your family. Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

Doyle

On behalf of my father and also my employer, Chris Batten Agency, we pray for strength for the family during this time. Our condolences go out to his family and friends.

I would like to pass on my deepest sympathies and condolences to the Schoenvogel family.
I only met Mr. Schoenvogel once, however he was a very professional and genuine person. As a tenant in one of the R & S Leasing buildings, I want to say "thank you" for making us part of your business family.
Many prayers for Mr. Schoenvogel and the family.

Dear Charlyn and Family,
Eileen and I want to express our sadness and sympathy to you at this time.
Growing up across the street from Walt was a wonderful experience. He used his great imagination to lead us into wonder filled adventures ( and a little trouble too!). It was fun to reconnect at the house in Angel Fire.
He was super guy and an inspiration to us all.
Please know you are in our prayers daily

Our journey from Brenham to the East Coast is overshadowed by the sad news of Walt's passing!
We will never understand why God calls some of us so early in life. God must be needing help from your great & wonderful husband, father & son! Our hearts weep with yours. RIP Walt - we will miss you!

Walt was a thoughtful and caring man. He was always willing to give of himself so that he could help others.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire family.

Sorry very much to hear of such a great loss,

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Walt's family. He was a special and wonderful person and will be missed by all who knew him.

To the entire family, we send our love and sympathy. This wonderful man will be missed by all of us. Blessings and comfort to you. Tom and Barbra

Our hearts ache and break for you...

I am so sorry for your loss. May all your great memories together help soften your pain.

The world lost another great one. Your love of family, friends and life will never be equaled. Charlyn, Lana and I both send you our love.

Walt was such a fine fine man. I am so thankful I had the chance to know him. My sincere condolences to his family.

Dear Mrs. Schoenvogel, Sally and Trey,
My heart goes out to you all as you suffer this terrible loss of your dad and husband. He was always such a friendly person and so clearly proud of his family. So many will miss him. May you feel the presence of your dad, the Holy Spirit and the prayers of all those who love you and loved him.
Sincerely,
Sarah

Shocking and sad news. Had the great pleasure of meeting Walt when out for dear Sally & Michael's wedding. A giant of a man and a gentleman. My sincerest sympathy to his entire family and to those that grieve his loss. May he Rest In Peace.

My lead investor was an angel even before he died.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”

Today, I am incredibly saddened and disappointed to share that yesterday morning, my friend, adviser and Localeur’s lead investor Walt Schoenvogel passed away suddenly.

Maybe you’ve heard the saying, “God works in mysterious ways.” Or perhaps you too live by the axiom that “everything happens for a reason.” Powerful and often timely words, indeed, but I must be honest in saying there are moments like the present one when I just cannot quite see God’s plan or cannot see beyond this particular day or moment to get to the silver lining of justification.

Doubt can creep in as such moments, but most of all its utter disbelief that whether one believes or not, God’s power is so complete, so total, so eternal and so infinite yet somehow we spend a great many hours and days and years of our lives contemplating, consternating and, only occasionally, celebrating the most tremendous blessings we’ve been given: life and love.

We take such unquantifiable gifts for granted day after day after day. Even those seemingly living full lives on Instagram or with full bridal parties at our weddings or with full three-car garages and full bank accounts are often caught up in the temporary stresses of the lives we’ve been blessed to have that we often fail to see the forest for the trees instead preferring to complain about the rain or the drought and heat or the quality the soil or the lack of fruit yet bearing or in envy of the neighbor’s trees or fruit.

We get caught forgetting that life and love are the only experiences that truly count.

Walt is one of the very few people I have ever encountered whom seemed to fully grasp how precious it is to have life and love.

The son of a doctor who refused to deny patients in the 1950s and 60s due to the color of their skin at a time when such refusals were the industry norm in the South; the husband of a beautiful wife Charlyn for four decades whom he always referred to with the admiration of a boy first acquainted with love; and the father of a daughter whom remains one of the most intelligent and all-around impressive individuals I’ve had the privilege of working with and knowing, it’s clear to me that Walt had both a great respect both for his role in a lineage of people who honored time, hard work and principles and a great sense of duty to celebrate the joy in family, friendship, kinship and life’s true gifts.

Before March 2016, I had never met Walt but knew of him through his daughter Sally who I worked with nearly a dozen years ago in Washington, D.C. Walt sent me a message on Facebook asking if I was still seeking investors for Localeur, to which I replied I had been. After a brief phone call, Walt and I planned to meet briefly at Walton’s Fancy and Staple where he proceeded to convince me without a single word of persuasion that he would neither threaten my vision nor demand a board seat in becoming the lead individual investor in Localeur with a sizable investment. Six months later, he re-invested in my vision for Localeur, and through the past year has remained among my most steadfast, engaged and responsive investors and advisers.

A successful businessman in his own right across many industries, Walt is a man that I came to look up to as not just an investor but someone who had unlocked some secret doorway to a life worth living where its daily stresses never seemed to rise above his vocal chords or beyond the surface of his eyebrows and temples. The man simply seemed to live life as the gift it was, day after day. Often times, I’d see photos of his here on Facebook with his wife and children and grandchildren on vacation or of him enjoying a meal at a new restaurant or a glass of wine, and find the parallels to the lifestyle I am building for myself. Here was a man whom knew how to laugh and to live.

Altogether, I spent time with Walt on five occasions since last March, but it feels like we had years because every interaction was so full not only of words and exchanges of information, but of genuine interest and the kind of good vibes that people often project through social media but seldom experience in real life. My favorite time with Walt was when I introduced him to my fiance Susannah and he introduced me to his wife Charlyn while we were both on a trip to Paris, them celebrating another wedding anniversary and us celebrating our engagement. Despite the gap of many years, it was like we quickly became couple friends and shared stories of our lives and love over laughs that I’ll never forget.

Walt touched the lives of his family and friends in a way that may never be measured in ways words can capture. I’ve read Joan Didion’s “The Year of Magical Thinking” and Paul Kalanithi’s “When Breathe Becomes Air” and fully grasp the power of words, but no words of mine will ever suffice to relay to you all exactly how instrumental Walt has been not only on Localeur’s trajectory as a company and my trajectory as an entrepreneur, but on my journey as a man, a future husband, a future father and a friend.

We have a board meeting on August 1, and I was so looking forward to seeing Walt and Heather Brunner and Blake Chandlee and my attorney Evan Kastner to talk through all the ways in which Localeur can continue its steady march toward fulfilling both our mission and our potential as a business. Mostly, though, I was looking forward to feeling the kinship that this group has formed not because these people care deeply and solely about the financial outcome of Localeur, but because these people - none more than Walt - have invested in me as a person.

Life and love are gifts, and Walt was gracious enough to share his gift with me and with all of us both with sage advice and a ready smile. For that, I am eternally grateful. Rest in peace, my friend.

Dear Charlyn,

Cassandra and I were shocked and saddened to learn of Walt's death. Although we have not seen each other since our move to Sugar Land, we have always considered the two of you to be our friends. Walt was a good man. He excelled as a father and was a very astute businessman. He will be missed by all. Our prayers and thoughts are with you and your family at this difficult time.

Charlyn and family, I'm at a loss for words. My heartfelt sympathy to you all. Walt brought so much joy to everyone around him. He'll be missed by many. I will keep you in my prayers.

Charlyn, I'm so sorry to hear about Walt. He was a wonderful man and he will be missed. May God's grace comfort you during this difficult time.