Gary (Spike) Gottschalk

 (photos to follow)

Spike Gottschalk left Girard after graduation to attend Ohio State University in Columbus.  His goal was to teach Speech and Drama.   That interest was cultivated at GHS where Spike had major roles in both the junior and senior plays   But  OSU was a big school.   “You could get lost there,” he says. 

He soon transferred to Youngstown where he could get more access to Speech and Drama Work.  At YSU Spike was offered an assistantship in the Speech department.  This allowed him to direct plays, teach underclassmen, and work on sets. 

In his Senior year Spike did his student teaching.  “That experience was so bad that I decided then not to be a teacher, “ he says.  “I was in an inner city school and discipline was a challenge.”

He had met and married his wife Karen at OSU.  One day she saw an advertisement for an insurance adjuster with GAB Robins.  Spike applied and was accepted into that job.  His communication skills quickly landed him a position in management and supervision at GAB Robins.  He stayed with them for 40 years in their offices of Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin, winning Top Adjuster and Top Manager awards.  He settled in Akron where he was office manager.  Spike is retired now but has been asked to continue working from home as a consultant.  “Working from home is great,” he says. “No more drives into Cleveland during rush hour”

Gary prefers to be called “Spike.”   He remembers his senior year when he was Miss Schumm’s wheel chair guide.  He wheeled her from her home to school each day.  “Miss Schumm was a tough old bird,” he remembers. “ She refused to call me Spike and always called me Gary.”  One day he told her if she did not call him Spike he would push the chair down the hill.  She said no and he briefly let the chair go on its own.   It was just a prank but when he got home that day his parents gave him quite a lecture.

Spike has a reputation as a practical joker. He has been President of the local Lions Club where he also functions as the tail-twister.  The tail-twister is allowed to roast his fellow Lions, whenever the opportunity presents itself.

He and Karen have 3 girls.  Family is the cornerstone of his life.  The entire family vacations together each summer at a waterfront home they rent on the Outer Banks. “Life is great there,” he explains.  “The family loves the beach and the pool.

Daughter Robin is married and living in South Carolina.  She and her husband hope to have a child soon .  When that happens Karen and Spike plan to move to S.C to be near the grandchild.

Daughters Paula and Megan live in Stow Ohio and are each looking for that “special man.”

Gary (Spike) Gottschalk says “I have been truly blessed in my life after graduation.  I have a great family, had a great career, and we have a very good life.”

He and Karen have a timeshare at Hilton Head and have taken several Royal Caribbean Cruises.

The 50^th will be Gary’s first reunion.  He is really looking forward to it.