Gustave A. and Geraldine F. Werner Foundation

Born in Farnham, NY, Geraldine Wasmund graduated from Dunkirk High School. She later graduated from Fredonia Normal School, now Fredonia State College, in 1929.

She married Henry C. Schrader and they had two children, Gayle A. Schrader and Donald Schrader, who was born with Downs Syndrome. Following the death of Mr. Schrader in 1949, she married Gustave A. Werner, who passed away in 1992.

Mrs. Werner volunteered in Donald’s classroom, eventually taking over the special education class. She continued her education at Buffalo State College, Geneseo State College, Brockport State College, the University of Rochester and Syracuse University and worked as a special-education teacher in a number of area school districts, including Angola, Brant, Hamburg and Rochester.

Mrs. Werner’s daughter, Gayle Schrader Fish, also graduated from Buffalo State, completing her undergraduate degree in exceptional education in 1956 and her master’s degree in secondary education mathematics in 1961.

Following a long teaching career, Mrs. Werner retired in 1977 from Mary Cariola Children’s Center, Rochester.
Mrs. Werner was a member of the Order of the Eastern Star in Rochester. She was on the Guardianship Committee of the Association for Retarded Citizens of Monroe County and was an active member of Trinity Emmanuel Lutheran Church, Rochester.

After the death of Mr. Werner, Mrs. Werner formed the Gustave A. and Geraldine F. Werner Foundation, a charitable foundation that provides scholarships for exceptional education students at Buffalo State, Fredonia State, and Geneseo State and supports a host of nonprofit agencies in the Buffalo and Rochester areas that were dear to Mrs. Werner’s heart.