Dr. Walter A. Schroeder Sr., 91, of Cape Girardeau died Sunday, Oct. 13, 2002, at Southeast Missouri Hospital.

He was born Feb. 2, 1911, in Pinckneyville, Ill., son of the late George Herman and Adele Caroline Walthers Schroeder. On Dec. 29, 1939, he and Frieda Jane Osburn were married in McLeansboro, Ill. She preceded him in death June 23, 1975.

He was a member of First Baptist Church in Anna, Ill., and when he moved to Cape Girardeau he joined Westminster Presbyterian Church. He graduated from Pinckneyville High School in 1929 and after one year at Illinois College he returned to Pinckneyville to deliver ice.

He graduated from the University of Illinois in 1938 with a degree in education. He graduated from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in 1942. Following an internship at the U.S. Naval Hospital in Quantico, Va., he served in the Navy and Marine Corps during World War II at Iwo Jima.

He began his medical practice March 17, 1947, in Anna and continued until retiring in the mid-1980s. He was the employee physician at Choate Mental Health Center in Anna.

He moved to Cape Girardeau in 1994. He was a member of the Illinois State Medical Society and received a 50-year certificate in 1992. He was also a ham radio operator.

Survivors include one son, Dr. Walter A. Schroeder Jr., and wife Cathy of Cape Girardeau; two daughters, Emily Jane Davis of Miami and Janet Graves of Eagan, Minn.; four grandchildren, Clark Davis of Phoenix, Austin Graves of Eagan, and Alex and Betsy Schroeder of Cape Girardeau.

He was preceded in death by one brother and three sisters.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Ford & Sons Mt. Auburn Chapel. Funeral will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Cape Girardeau with the Rev. Doug Scott officiating. Burial will be in Mueller Hill Cemetery in Pinckneyville.

Memorials may be made to Westminster Presbyterian Church or Humane Society.