Warren Schroeder from Bethel on Freddy, Kline and the apostate books!

by Dogpatch 501 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  cathyk

  A comment and a question:

  My roomate, who worked as a plumber, was once assigned as a lookout while others finished unlicensed plumbing work in the Greenpoint Avenue Assembly Hall.

  In NYC, where the unions rule with an iron fist, this isn't uncommon if a job needs to be done quickly and with a minimum of personnel. If the union found out, though, there could be broken bones ...

  Only George Ganges and Karl Klein were able to maintain idealism for all their years of service... and both were totally retarded.

  My question is: Which members of the Governing Body actually went out in field service back then? I guess that Knorr probably didn't, nor Franz?

  Cathy

  oldlighthousebooks.blogspot.com
• 

  james_woods

  Very interesting question, Cathy.

  We did ask old Albert Schroeder if he went d to d, and he smugly replied that he had a "special territory" there in Pittsburgh PA where the old servant's school was.

  I think it actually consisted of a couple of little old ladies that would let him inside and he claimed to be doing a "bible study" with them. Probably they were lonely and just wanted somebody to talk to.

  Someone posted here that after he had the last stroke as was practically without motion or thought, they used to pin a Watchtower to his jacket front and wheel him down to the street in front of the WT offices so he could "count time". Pathetic.
• 

  biff mcfly

  Hey randy,

  I knew the second guy from the right in the photo of the press erectors...don becker..he was my floor overseer. always liked Don, had a great sense of humor.
• 

  Gamaliel

  Cathy, you had a question about which GB members went out in service:
  
  I don't think any of us can speak for anyone else. I attended the Brooklyn Heights Congregation every Tue & every Thu and many Sundays (unofficially) as preparation for my assigned congregation in the Bronx (Wed, Fri, and Sun pm). I hardly ever missed a meeting in either congregation (except B.H. on Sunday am), mostly because I had some very good friends in the Brooklyn Heights Congregation (not just Bethelites) that I also spent time with on weekends.
  
  About 5 GB members, maybe more, attended the B.H. Cong., and they were sometimes there, but never regularly. We would just assume they were busy on some important Society matters. The B.H. Cong was also overloaded with other Bethel elders, some "heavies". There were a few Bethel elders (e.g, Bro Malone) who were very active in the congregation, including regular field service, conducting TMS, the Book Study, etc. But no GB member had any regular assignment like that. It was not expected that you would see them but once every few weeks at best, and ONLY for the Thursday meetings (TMS/Svc Mtg). No Book Study attendance, and on weekends, it was even more rare, and you would assume that they had been invited to give a talk somewhere else in the world. I know for a fact that this assumption was false in some cases, but it was obviously true a lot of the time, too.
  
  It's not directly related, but I went in door-to-door service with Fred Rusk (Writing Dept), and he admitted to me that he was a bit rusty and that I should take every door. I assumed he was just there to test if I gave out apostate literature when someone appeared interested. But whenever he did chime in, he really did sound a bit rusty.
  
  Greg
• 

  wschroeder

  cathy says: "In NYC, where the unions rule with an iron fist, this isn't uncommon if a job needs to be done quickly and with a minimum of personnel. If the union found out, though, there could be broken bones ..."
  
  You're quite mistaken, in NYC large corporations and big money run this city with the iron fist, ...always have... always will... Even so, the unions and their skilled workers exist here through a lot of hard work and battles. Union projects are far more productive and safer, than non-union jobs, besides being inspected properly by licensed authorities.
  
  I do not understand the negative views of unions... which essentially are workers who collectively negotiate and vote for a living wage.... The audacity of democracy.
  
  Imagine.... the WTS paying a fair wage, providing adequate healthcare/insurance, or any other type of compensation if you get old, you know the things unions try to get for workers.
  
  You might consider these forums of exJW's as a collective group a union with a repressive former boss. I wonder who's complaining about unions now?
  
  In fact, there were some negotiations that went on between the trade unions here and the WTS when the 25 CH construction was being done. I got to learn a little more firsthand when I became a member of the IBEW construction division in 1983, and one of the union officials that signed me up learned about my being a JW at WT during the past 4 years. He told me about some of the negotiations and concessions made on labor for that construction project. I also got some more questions about WT operations including the factory.
• 

  cathyk

  Since so many of you were involved in NYC congregations, I have a few questions of personal interest:

  1) One of the families around the block from me in Woodhaven were Witnesses. The father was an elder in the Kingdom Hall near Aqueduct Racetrack in the 1970s. I believe the family was originally from Pennsylvania. I can't remember the last name, but I think it began with an "S"; I have a vague recollection of it being similar to "Siebert", as in Gertrude Siebert, but I've probably misremembered it. Anyhow, they had two kids around my age: Kirk and Renee. They were all REALLY tall, the father well over 6 ft., and the mother not far behind. The kids both grew up to be tall as well.

  2) I also knew the Leask family, who attended the same KH. I went to parochial school with Susie Leask until the family converted during the big run-up to 1975. I often wonder if they stayed in after that. I understood that not all the kids (and there were at least 5 of them) were thrilled with joining the JWs, but they didn't have much of a choice.

  Anyone ever meet these people? They were pretty nice folks.

  Cathy

  oldlighthousebooks.blogspot.com
• 

  cathyk

  cathy says: "In NYC, where the unions rule with an iron fist, this isn't uncommon if a job needs to be done quickly and with a minimum of personnel. If the union found out, though, there could be broken bones ..."

  You're quite mistaken, in NYC large corporations and big money run this city with the iron fist, ...always have... always will... Even so, the unions and their skilled workers exist here through a lot of hard work and battles. Union projects are far more productive and safer, than non-union jobs, besides being inspected properly by licensed authorities.
  
  I do not understand the negative views of unions... which essentially are workers who collectively negotiate and vote for a living wage.... The audacity of democracy.

  I am by and large pro-union, when they do what they're supposed to do. I belonged to the AFT myself, and was grateful for the collective bargaining process. On the other hand, I saw all sorts of abuses done in the name of union rules while I was a teacher -- not least of which was the protection of incompetents. As for the physical violence end of things, corporations are not alone in employing goons. I have it on the authority of my brother, who personally knew people who had run afoul of the unions. There were broken bones involved -- I wasn't using hyperbole. Growing up in NYC, there was more than a hint of some unions (not all, mind you) being run by organized crime. It was worse in some than in others. For example, I would guess that the printers' union, which my father-in-law belonged to, was relatively free of that sort of thing. On the other hand the Teamsters were pretty corrupt back in the 1970s.
  
  I do know that the WTS used to drive the unions nuts because they could skirt the system. The WTS does not have any sense of what is due to a worker. If they did, they would do better at arranging financial security for their Bethel staff, among other things. Cathy oldlighthousebooks.blogspot.com
• 

  Eliveleth

  G-jobs. I think it was Walden Chin - who eventually became a CO and DO - who used to G-job "special" Bibles for us when he was at Bethel. We'd get them bound with the Make Sure (later Reasoning) book, with a leather cover and our names embossed on the cover. I'm pretty sure Walden was doing this right at Bethel.

  I have one of those. Joe saw someone with one like it and had them bound for all our family. I don't have much WT literature left. We sold it all to a place where they sell

  old WT stuff. I believe we got $400 for all of it. WT volumes back to 1948. I wish we had kept it. The old books are going for big bucks on Ebay. hee hee

  I wanted to share a couple of photos with you. Some of you knew Fred and Maggie Maes. I have a picture of them just after they were married and pioneering in San Francisco. Also one of Fred at Bethel.

  I am also including one of Fred's wife who he married in 1977 after Maggie left. There is also one of me at the Bethel Library (not sure which one) and Joe in front of the Factory. Fred died in 1998, but he had fond memories of some of you guys at Bethel. He had a few stories about Brother Knorr too. He terrified Fred when he first got to Bethel. He said he was very harsh and embarrassed Fred many times.

  Maybe one of these days I will share some of Fred's cartoons. He went on to be a cartoonist in the real world and did several including a column for a short while for the Mobile Press-Tribune. He was a great guy with a real sense of humor. We miss him so much. Joe says he is cartooning for the angels. hee hee

  Love you guys so much. Even though I never went to Bethel except for a couple of visits, I have a real heart connection to you esp. because of Fred. The first time we went to Bethel we stayed at a room in one of the WT bldgs. The second time we stayed in the Bossert before they redid it. What a dump! My daughters had friends in Fullerton whose brother went to Bethel in the 80s. I think his name was Grant Garcia.

  I love this thread. I hope it just keeps going and we can hear more about the Bethel boys exploits. We had a tape from Paul Blizard when we first got out. Now that guy has some Bethel experiences! hee hee

  Thanks so much.

  Love and hugs,

  Velta
• 

  Eliveleth

  I tried to put up som pictures.

  JK tried to tell me how, but I guess I am a slow learner. Sorry they did not come up.

  Velta
• 

  NewYork44M

  Someone posted here that after he had the last stroke as was practically without motion or thought, they used to pin a Watchtower to his jacket front and wheel him down to the street in front of the WT offices so he could "count time". Pathetic.

  That was me. I lived in Brooklyn Heights for six years. Not as a bethelite, but as a resident. I purchased a co-op in a building once owned by the society. At the time I lived with my wife (now ex) and was in the final throughs of my fade. I attended occasionally at the Brooklyn Heights hall.

  In my years there I got to know a few within the congregation. However, I found Brooklyn Heights to be the most unfriendly congregation I have ever attended.

  I would occasonally see some of the gb, usually with others. They can't push a wheelchair by themselves. I would usually stop and talk with them. Nothing controversial, usually the weather or if I knew them from the past just friendly stuff.

  I was always embarassed form Schroeder when I would see him with his wife in front of the Towers totally out of it with a Wt pinned to his jacket.