CMSgt (ret.) Peter Schieferdecker

Minot

Pete Schieferdecker, 88, Minot, ND, passed away peacefully Sunday, September 24, 2023, at his home in Minot with his wife and children at his side.

He was born March 5, 1935, in Berlin, Germany and grew up during World War II, where he saw the atrocities of war through the eyes of a child. At ten years old, he led his two younger sisters in a caravan to safety in Poland without his parents during the allied bombing of Berlin.

Born and reared under Nazi rule, Pete recalled that “…in school we were not given any special indoctrination by the Nazi’s, but after the war, under the Russians, we were forced to attend communist demonstrations and parades” in what became East Germany. In 1948, discouraged with life under Russian rule, his grandparents were determined that he get away to freedom. After days spent at Gatow Airport, Pete was evacuated on a Royal Air Force C-46 during the Berlin Airlift and reunited with his parents in West Germany. As a teenager, Pete ran track and competed against athletes from all over Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. He became fluent in Russian in the East German schools, and then learned English after moving to West Germany.

In 1956, he crossed the Atlantic on a Volkswagen container ship to live with his mother in Manchester, New Hampshire. He was inspired to join the USAF after witnessing how they saved his hometown during the Berlin Airlift. Pete had a distinguished 31-year career in the USAF which brought him to various assignments around the world, including Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Oklahoma, Texas, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Germany and finally, Minot AFB. He retired from the Air Force in 1987 at the peak enlisted rank of Chief Master Sergent and started his own company, Magic City Support Systems, that serviced military aircraft visiting Minot AFB. He employed 12 people and fully retired in 1999.

Pete married Leonarda (Narda) Chapman of Manchester, NH, on August 29, 1964 and they raised four kids. Pete was happiest at home with Narda. He enjoyed working in the yard and took pride in numerous Minot AFB “Yard of the Month” awards. Animals brought him much joy for the last 40 years of his life, having eight different dogs and five cats during that time. He was an avid supporter of the Souris Valley Humane Society. Pete was always knowledgeable on current events and international affairs, something he passed onto his children. Pete also had an amazing sense of humor and quick wit.

Before his health declined, Pete enjoyed an annual three-week trip back to Europe to see friends and family, ride the trains and enjoy his favorite German foods.

Pete is survived by Narda, his wife of 59 years, sons, Eric (Bemidji, MN), Kurt (Tacoma, WA) and Kavin (Jackie, San Diego/Dallas), and his favorite, daughter, Elke (& Ken, Weare, NH), grandchildren, Jordan (Plymouth, NH), Megan (Seattle, WA), Max (Philadelphia, PA), Ben & Caleb (Tacoma, WA), Jack (San Diego) and Nicholas (Dallas), sister Ute (Wolfsburg, Germany), brothers Tilman (Wasserhausen, Germany) and Frank (Bremen, Germany).

There will be no public service. In lieu of flowers, the family requests a gift to Our Lady of Grace food pantry or Turtle Mountain Animal Rescue.

Those wishing to sign the online register and share memories may access the online obituaries section at (www.thompsonlarson.com).

Published by The Minot Daily News, Sept. 27, 2023.