Emil Peter "Shiney" Schandua

This August brings the 17th death anniversary of Mr. Emil Peter Schandua.

Emil Peter Schandua was born on 5 August 1915, parents Emil John Schandua and Clara Moritz (1).

His great-grandfather Peter Schandua of Frickhofen, Germany came to Texas (on the vessel Washington) with his wife Margarethe and children Peter and Johann on 6 December 1845. Peter Sr. was 29, Margarethe 26, Peter Jr. 3, and Johann about 1 (2). Margarethe passed not long after their arrival and Peter Sr. remarried later. He is buried with his wife Karolina in the old city cemetery in Fredericksburg.

On 31 Dec. 1937 Emil Peter Schandua married Miss Norma Bertha Henke (3).

Some time after their marriage, Emil and Norma moved to San Antonio. After WW2 Emil worked in sheet metal business and during the war he repaired bomber planes at Kelly Field.

Later Emil worked with his father, who was a tinsmith, in his Fredericksburg shop. In 1927 Emil John Schandua and his business partner Harry Reichenau applied for a patent for a blowfly trap. The patent was granted on 10 June 1930. You can see the details regarding their invention here.

Emil took over his father's shop after not long after his death in 1957. "Shiney" was Emil's nickname, so he changed the name from "Reichenau and Schandua" to "Shiney's Sheet Metal Work". The shop was situated in South Llano Street.

On a day in March 1980, Emil and his son Ricky tried to save the life of Mr. Ronald Bonn's. The latter one had been in a critical situation which was a result of a tragic accident. In spite of Emil and Ricky's efforts, Mr. Bonn could not be saved.

Clipping source: Dietel, Norman J. The Harper Herald (Harper, Tex.), Vol. 64, No. 10, Ed. 1 Friday, March 7, 1980, newspaper, March 7, 1980; Harper, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1034789/: accessed August 2, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Harper Library.

"Shiney" retired in the 1980s. Mr. Emil was a skinful tinsmith, he enjoyed making knives with the old pioneer type tools. The man often presented his works at the Founders Day celebrated in Fredericksburg and at the Texas Folklife Festival in San Antonio (the first such festival was held in 1972).

Emil Peter Schandua passed away on 31 August 2003 (4).
God bless his soul. 

UPDATE

Found during our visit at a cemetery in Fredericksburg - the grave of  Emil's parents, Emil John and Clara Schandua.

Resources:
 
1. "Texas Birth Certificates, 1903-1935," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X2P7-XHV : 4 April 2020), Emil Peter Schandua, 05 Aug 1915; citing Fredericksburg, Gillespie, Texas, United States, certificate 31909, Texas Department of Health, Austin; FHL microfilm 4,284,865.

2. Pioneers in God's Hills. A History of Texas and Gillespie County People and Events. 1960, Gillespie County Historical Society. Printed by Boeckman-Jons, Austin, Texas.

3. "Texas, County Marriage Records, 1837-1965," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV1H-DMHN : 10 December 2017), Emil P Schandua and Norma Henke, 31 Dec 1937; citing Marriage, citing Gillespie, Texas, United States, Texas State Library, Archives Division, and various Texas county clerks; FHL microfilm 1,764,046.

4. "United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKWS-P4LP : accessed 2 August 2020), Emil P Or Shiney Schandua, Texas, United States, 10 Sep 2003; from "Recent Newspaper Obituaries (1977 - Today)," database, GenealogyBank.com (http://www.genealogybank.com : 2014); citing Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post, born-digital text. 

"Our Way of Life. Voices of Gillespie County in the 1970s.", Philip O'Bryan Montgomery III, Shearer Publishing, Fredericksburg, Texas, 2013.