In 2007, Matt and Susan Schueler of Chicago lost their oldest son, Henry (Hank), after a 13-month fight against a rare form of leukemia.
Henry was diagnosed with Hypodiploid Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (HALL), and a secondary fungal infection, known as zygomycosis. The passionate baseball player and fan was just 14 years old, and in light of his passing, his bereaved parents founded the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation to fund innovative, life-saving research in the field of pediatric high-risk leukemia.
In November 2006, Hank was diagnosed with HALL, a disease with a generally poor prognosis. He maintained his spirits during his lengthy fight. His living desire was to “make sure this does not happen to other kids.” The foundation founded in his honor (41 was his football number at St. Mary of the Woods and St. Patrick High School, while 9 was his baseball number for ESAA baseball and All-Star teams, as well as for the Edgebrook Bulldogs and St. Patrick’s) strives to do just that.
Since losing Hank on December 14, 2007, his parents and the 41 & 9 Foundation have published journals on mucormycosis through Oxford University Press; funded the first Genomic Analysis of HALL through doctors at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Denver; and endowed a two-year scholarship awarded each year to a St. Patrick High School student, a junior student-athlete who exemplifies the qualities Hank exuded even through his untimely death: enthusiasm for life, stellar athletic competition and academic excellence.
On May 26, a group of cyclists from the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation will join with 15 Chicago fireman from Ignite the Spirit to embark on a 12-day, 1,000-mile bike ride from Wrigley Field to Boston’s Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. The Foundation riders have completed three successful cross-country rides to date, raising over $150,000 to support their research efforts. This next effort, their most challenging one yet, will honor Hank’s love of baseball by traipsing from one historic baseball shrine to another. The journey begins in Chicago on Memorial Day and will conclude 12 days later, in Boston, on June 6. Among those riding are alumni and parents fromLoyola Academy in Wilmette, including parents Matt Schueler, Pat Reardon and Jimmy Boyle (himself class of ’81) and alumni Matt Boyle, ’13, Joe Cook, ’97 and Tim Shanahan, ’97.
Proceeds from the ride will benefit the research efforts being conducted on behalf of the Henry Schueler 41 & 9 Foundation at St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital and around the world. A portion of the proceeds will also benefit Ignite the Spirit, a foundation associated with the Chicago Fire Department that provides assistance to firefighter and First Responder families in need.
