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Ralph C. ("Bud") Schremp (1945-2002)

By Annie Hirschman

My husband was a pretty remarkable guy. I met him in his wonderful used book store and just never left until he took me home. In addition to the love of books he was also an accomplished artist and photographer. Here in New Jersey and in our Newfoundland home he is sorely missed - for the art and his humor and his generosity.

He was not a vet, but he was an important supporter of VVAW. It was fairly early in our relationship that I said to him, "Hon, I'm going to DC with about 60,000 guys, OK?" There was no problem. We hosted Barry, John & Annie and Bill D. one annual meeting, and poor Bud had never even seen that much beer in our house. Wacky Jacky lived with us for a couple of months, too. One day I got a call from the store that a customer was in PTSD crisis, and Bud just gave the guy the phone and let him get therapy right there. With Bud, business could take a back seat to people with needs.

He died suddenly of a heart attack while doing work that he loved. It is a source of comfort to me that we managed to do many of the things we dreamed of and that he lived richly every day. His legacy is the message: Don't postpone joy! He never did.