“Jim” James Patrick Schaberg

“Jim” James Patrick Schaberg was born on January 11th, 2011 in Lansing, MI with 11 fingers. From the start he was a fighter. In addition to his 11 fingers he was born with 5 congenital heart defects, a sacral dimple, a high arched palate and many other minor birth defects. He was seeing 11 different specialists by his first birthday, and smiled through it all. He was taken from us too soon by a tragic accident on July 29th, 2023 after a hard fought battle to survive.

Jim was an incredible and happy child with an unending thirst for knowledge. He taught himself how to read when he was just two years old and has been an avid reader since. He had an almost photographic memory and wanted to be a paleontologist. He could talk your ear off for literal hours about every dinosaur you’ve ever heard of and about 50 million dinosaurs that you didn’t know existed. When his mom took him to Dinosaur Days at the MSU museum he cornered the paleontology student for over an hour asking endless questions until mom had to finally drag him away. When Jurassic World was released to theaters we took him to see it with his God-Brother Georgie and the two boys spent the entire movie discussing what dinosaur was on the screen at any given time.

He enjoyed learning about any science, and was able to name and describe the main facts about all the planets in the solar system by the age of four. His mom had to teach him to “ask Google” by that age because he had endless questions about everything under the sun and she could not possibly answer them all. His second grade teacher had to bribe him with looking up facts on Google to get him to do his writing work. He loved going to Impression 5 Science Center, whatever planetarium we could find, any science related event, and watched every video he could find from Neil deGrasse Tyson. He dreamed about being able to see the aurora borealis, but every time they were far enough south for us to see, it was inevitably cloudy.

Jim had a very strong moral compass and couldn’t understand the injustices in the world. When Roe v Wade was overturned he had endless questions about what it meant, and wanted to participate in the protests following that decision. He would go down the Google rabbit hole learning about the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s Lib Movement, The Gay Rights movement, Native Rights, Black Lives Matter, slavery and more. He would have grown up to be an advocate of many as he was already an advocate at the age of 12. He learned from his mom that we as white people have a responsibility to use our voice where others are silenced and did so on a daily basis. When he saw other kids being bullied he would step in and support the victim, though he himself was bullied often.

Jim was introduced to the Harry Potter world at the age of 8 and has been a PotterHead ever since. He took the online test and became a member of Hufflepuff House, of which he was very proud. Though most of us expected him to be in Ravenclaw because of his intelligence, Hufflepuff fit him to the core. “You might belong in Hufflepuff, where they are just and loyal, these patient Hufflepuffs are true, and unafraid of toil.” – Sorting Hat, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.

He took that love of Harry Potter and started delving deep into the fantasy genre. His Bonus Mom gave him the Percy Jackson series for this past Christmas and that started a neverending fascination with the Greek and Roman Pantheons. We’ve learned more about those pantheons in the last 8 months than we learned in the preceding decades. The I Survived book series was also a favorite, along with Dogman and Captain Underpants.

Two years ago he was introduced to Pokémon through his Step-Dad’s kids and we were once again treated to more information about all the various Pokémon than we could have ever imagined. How many there were, what kind, what gen, how they morphed into the next level, etc.

New experiences and new information always filled Jim with so much excitement he couldn’t contain himself. From Zip-lining in St. Ignace to learning about Zeus, we always heard “Awesome! Mom, did you know…” while bouncing on his toes with a huge smile on his face.

He thoroughly enjoyed time with his Nana and had a very special bond with her. They watched endless Law and Order and CSI shows and Jim was fascinated by the science and law behind it. Jim asked his Nana endless questions about her work on the front lines for civil rights, women’s rights, and gay rights in this state.

Jim was always the first kid to jump up to give hugs when someone walked in the door. His bond with his father was just as deep as it was with everyone else. He loved playing with his father whether it be video games, pillow fights, chess, or “attack daddy.” He loved story time with his Dad and often insisted his Dad read.

Jim had been researching Dungeons and Dragons and was going to add that to his next obsession. He was just this weekend about to start learning HeroQuest from his Step-Dad Russell to ease himself into the RPG genre.

He enjoyed drag shows, pow wows, swimming with his siblings, and loved going to Wharton Center. His recent trips to Wharton included the Harry Potter Symphony with Mom and Bonus Mom and watching the Lion King with Nana. Nana got him an aisle seat for the Lion King and the hyenas stopped to interact with him during the show which brought so much joy to him. He wanted to see the Blue Man Group but unfortunately never made it.

Jim was named after his maternal great-grandfather James Joseph Scullion, Sr., his mother’s god-mother H. Patricia Curran, and the Irish Revolutionary Padraig Pearse.

Jim is survived by his beloved Nana Mary Kay Scullion, Mom Meghan (Russell Savoie) Scullion, Dad David “Jeff” (Jean) Schaberg, Bonus Mom Sara (Ron Holleman) Timmreck, Sister Murphy Schaberg, Half Siblings Thomas and Hannah Schaberg and Grace and Fianna Dutcher, Step Siblings Andrew (Amanda) Scott, Gabriel and Nikolas Sanders, Rebekah and Jacob Hopkins, and August, Mason, and Evan Savoie, Step Nephew and nieces Kashius McConnell, A’Myah and Karma Scott, God-Parents George and Keri Rozansky, and God-brother Georgie Rozansky. He is also survived by many Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Family friends, and friends who will miss him dearly. He was predeceased by his Grandparents David and Shari Schaberg and bonus Grandma Connie Welch.

Visitation will take place on Friday, August 4, 2023, from 4-7 p.m. at Estes-Leadley Greater Lansing Chapel at 325 W. Washtenaw St. in Lansing, MI. There will be a second visitation on Saturday, August 5, 2023, from 10-11 a.m. immediately preceding an 11:00 a.m. Catholic Funeral Mass, with luncheon to follow at St. Michael Catholic Church at 324 Edwards St. in Grand Ledge, MI. The family requests that no dress clothes be worn. Instead they request that attendees wear Harry Potter Shirts, Dinosaur Shirts, Avatar the Last Airbender Shirts, Pokémon Shirts, MSU shirts, Roblox shirts, or if you have none of those Hogwarts House Colors.

To view the livestream of Jim’s funeral Mass on Saturday click on this link:  James Schaberg Funeral – YouTube

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made in Jim’s name to The Reading People in Lansing, MI, Ele’s Place, C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital PICU, The Gift of Life Michigan, or Impression 5 Science Center.