David Schoumacher Obituary, Death – David Schoumacher, one of our founders and mentors, passed away peacefully in his sleep on March 24, 2023, at the age of 88. It is with great regret that we announce David’s loss because he was one of our founding members and a mentor. In the course of his career as a journalist, David was awarded two Emmys for his coverage of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Vietnam war, Watergate, multiple presidential elections, and the NASA space program.
He also reported on the Vietnam war. Between the years 1976 and 1988, he worked for ABC News as the evening news anchor for the Washington Bureau. In addition, David gave his service to his country by flying tankers and tactical bombers with the United States Air Force and Air Force reserve from 1967 to 1971.
After losing his wife in 2001, he married his next-door neighbor and long-time friend Elizabeth “Wooz” Matthews and moved to Hume, Virginia, to live on her family property, which is called Thistle Hill Farm. After a near miss with a black Angus cow and one of their grandchildren, they came to the conclusion that they needed a breed of cattle with a more subdued temperament in order to work with, and they chose Ruby Red Devons.
Initial contributions to the herd were made by Jeremy Engh at Lakota Ranch as well as by Charlie and Martha Trantham. These individuals served as the herd’s foundation. Wooz volunteered hundreds of hours to become the registrar for the North American Devon Association. In this role, he is responsible for registering purebred Devons all over the United States. David became a member of the board and contributed his years of experience in the areas of marketing and communications.