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With a heavy heart I am letting people know that my brother, John K. (Jake) van Schaick died last Sunday morning at age 74, with his daughter Katrina by his side. Jake had severe Parkinsons, which limited his mobility. Jake attended both Mt. Pleasant and Linton High School, graduating in 1968 (if my math is right). He went on to graduate from Union College, and had a successful career as a computer programmer, retiring from the State of Connecticut. He leaves his wife Frances, daughters Katrina and Holly, and sisters Nancy and Mary Kate. He was funny, insightful and kind, and will be missed. https://www.bosakfuneralhome.com/obituaries/John-Vanschaick/#!/TributeWall
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Daniel Garber
I was surprised to see that Jake VanSchaick had passed. It was quite a shock, since I think of myself as being immortal, and assume that all of the people I knew in school are as well. (That includes all of you who may be reading this.) I hadn’t seen Jake since we were in Linton. For many years, he was my closest friend, the kid with whom I once bicycled to Albany one hot summer afternoon, the kid with whose family I would sometimes leave the big city (that is, Schenectady) to go off into the country for weekends. I think by the end of high school, we had drifted apart, but there were magical years before. His mother, Sally VanSchaick, who taught English at Linton, was, one of my favorite teachers (along with Miss. Johnson, the Latin teacher). Jake’s father taught English at Mt. Pleasant. They lived what seemed like a wonderful bohemian life, with people drifting in and out of their house. (That certainly didn’t happen where I grew up!) I was charmed that their prized possession was a full set of the Oxford English Dictionary. Being friends with Jake meant being a part of their family, which meant a lot to me. Since those years I had always meant to look him up, see what he had done in the intervening 50+ years. But I never did. I will never know whether he always kept the same eccentric personality and sense of adventure that he always had.