Ernst Otto Schoop of Ashland, formerly of Millville and Mendon, passed away on Thursday, May 24th after a long illness. He is survived by a son, Max Praver and a granddaughter Emma of Tsukuba City, Japan; and two daughters, Maja Schoop, currently serving at Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota and Kelly Schoop of Los Angeles, California. He is also survived by his sister, Lita Cipriani – Boyle, and a niece and a nephew. A commemorative service celebrating his life will be held in the Hopedale Unitarian Church at 2:PM on Saturday, June 9th which would have been his 64th birthday. Services will be followed by a reception in the parish hall. In lieu of flowers, donations in Ernst’s memory may be made to: Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. http://www.no-smoke.org
Ernst was born in Vejla, Denmark in 1948. His parents, Otto and Martha, overcame his childhood health challenges and became aware of his musical nature at a very early age. His sweet childlike voice, discovered in his mother’s kitchen was later developed in a Lutheran church choir. For the rest of his life, this love of music was a guiding force in much of what he held dear.
After completing high school in Denmark, Ernst came to visit his sister Lita in America and discovered the allure of the late 60’s Harvard Square counter-culture. Having married young, he became a permanent resident of Massachusetts and began a lifelong role of planning and hosting parties, music and entertainment. This fostered his involvement in later life in the performing arts.
Ernst was a member of the Renaissance choral group Commoner’s Crown, performing at many venues including King Richard's Faire and the Hasting on Hudson Renaissance Festivals. He was a producer for many musicals at the Milford Performing Arts Center, including The King and I, Cinderella, Fiddler on the Roof and Bye Bye Birdie. He was also an actor/singer in many Boars’ Head Festivals in Mendon, Uxbridge and Hopedale. Having an amazing tenor voice, he was a valued member of many choirs including the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, HUP Choir and Mendon/Uxbridge Choir.
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Raising his daughters in a home formerly worked as a farm, Maja and Kelly both credit their Dad with inculcating them with his passion for music and the performing arts. He was behind their piano lessons and vocal rehearsals. They in turn rehearsed him for his own upcoming performances. Both of his daughters fondly recalled their biking and hiking with their dogs. This place was also the site of legendary annual ‘Barn Parties’ featuring local jazz and rock musicians into the wee hours of the morning.
His role as an affable host and an entertainer was looked forward to by family and numerous friends who participated in annual vacations on Cape Cod Bay. Sun and sand at seaside was the setting for swimming, fishing and yet more music and cocktails, clambakes and lobster-boils. These were the times that he showed his friends a more pensive person whose spirit was elated at the sight of sunrise or a starry night.
Ernst made his living for many years as a respiratory therapist and later as a social services coordinator. He suffered a series of debilitating strokes in 2002. Over time he was subjected to intermittent hospitalization and a series of rehabilitation settings that eventually compelled him to seek a handicap accessible apartment. It was in Ashland that he was able to return to a measure of independence that he had sorely missed. For his final years in Ashland he found gratification in a congenial and caring community of neighbors who helped to restore his will to live...
A number of close friends were instrumental in helping him to thrive in his new lifestyle. His disabled status entitled him to many basic services, but it was his friends that provided the many opportunities to indulge his appetite for all things musical. Ernst always made an effort to attend live performances of The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and The Band to name a few. ‘Furthur’ (sic), he was frequently able to attend live performances of various remnants of the Grateful Dead as well as Crosby, Stills and Nash and especially Neil Young. He was also able to pursue his love of theatre with an ongoing interest in Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man Group as well as community theatre.
Ernst’s family, friends and neighbors will always remember his joy and kindness even as they willingly forget whatever the challenges were that may have dimmed his star. If love be wealth, he was a rich man...
Ernst-Otto Schoop a Vejle Kommune, blev født den 9 juni 1948. Han blev født i hjemmet. Hans far var Otto-Ernst Schoop, og hans mor var Martha Marie Schoop født Sørensen...