Daniel Schulgasser, 81, of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, a retired salesman and World War II bomber pilot, died of cancer Friday, Dec. 29, in Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Mr. Schulgasser was drafted into the Army in April 1941 and later applied to the Army Air Forces in which he served until the end of the war. Mr. Schulgasser completed 35 missions in Europe as a B-17 bomber pilot, earning the Distinguished Flying Cross after he safely landed his craft, which had been severely damaged during a December 1944 mission over Vienna, said his wife, Evelyn. Mr. Schulgasser didn’t talk much about the war years, but his wife later heard stories from his crew at reunions. “They always told me nobody got them home the way he did,” said his wife, describing her husband as a humble and caring man who never complained. Mr. Schulgasser was raised in Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood, graduating from Von Steuben High School in 1937. He sang with the Chicago Opera Company during the 1939-40 season. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 1948, the same year he got married. The couple lived in Park Forest and West Rogers Park before moving to Lincoln Park 12 years ago. After college, Mr. Schulgasser worked as an air traffic controller at Midway Airport for five years before taking a sales position at Encyclopaedia Britannica, where he eventually became national telephone trainer. In the early 1960s, he went to work for M.R. Berlin Metals Inc., selling secondary steel around the country. He retired in the late 1980s, but remained in sales with his son’s water-filtration business. In addition to his wife, Mr. Schulgasser is survived by two sons, Henry and Jordan; a daughter, Andrea; and four grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Piser Original Weinstein, 3019 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago.
