A senior volunteer of generous tenor.

Byline: PROFILE by The Register-Guard

Name: Harold Schyberg Jr., 77, Eugene.

Claim to fame: Schyberg has been a volunteer for the American Red Cross' Meals on Wheels program in Eugene for more than 12 years, and keeps on delivering meals - along with a host of other volunteer activities - despite being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease last year. This presents a challenge in some ways, but few problems when it comes to volunteering. "There are times I feel sorry for myself," he says, "but otherwise, no."

An American in Frankfurt: Schyberg, a native Chicagoan, began his career as a schoolteacher in the Windy City in 1951, teaching grade school. "I've taught every grade from first through 12th," he says. In 1961, he moved his family to Germany and began teaching biology and the physical sciences to children of American military personnel in the Frankfurt area. He eventually became the principal of an American high school there. Two of his daughters and his son graduated from Frankfurt American High School.

Besides a three-year stint back in Chicago from 1967 to 1970, he taught overseas in Germany, Japan and England until he retired in 1991. Living overseas for most of three decades enriched his life and has left him few regrets, Schyberg says. "I've swam in the Dead Sea. I rode a camel in the desert. I've climbed Mount Fugi. And I've gone snorkeling off the Island of Crete."

A singer, too: Schyberg is a tenor. Make that a "high" tenor. "Tenors are hard to come by," Schyberg says. "I've sung in many church choirs where I was the only tenor. He's sung with the Eugene Gleemen, the Chicago Civic Opera, the Wiesbaden British Light Opera in Germany, the Eugene Concert Choir and at many churches, including his present church, the First Congregational Church in Eugene. Being a tenor's tough, Schyberg says. "You're exposed," he says. "If you make a mistake, everybody knows it."

Nature lover: Schyberg has been a volunteer at the Mount Pisgah Arboretum since moving to Eugene in 1992. He leads kids on nature walks and instructs them about such things as the reproduction of plants. He's also the moderator for a senior group at the Campbell Senior Center in Eugene called "Birds of Oregon and General Sciences" - or BOGS. They get together every Thursday for meetings and field trips, and Schyberg arranges speakers on everything from geology to archaeology to global warming.

Waiting, hoping: Schyberg's only son, Harold Schyberg III, 35, is a staff sergeant with the U.S. Army in Iraq. He's been there eight months and his father worries for his safety. A career military man, Harold Schyberg III fought in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and has served in Bosnia and Korea, too. His wife and 18-month-old son live in Columbus, Ga., near Fort Benning.

Delivery man: After he first moved to Eugene, Schyberg played softball with Linn Crooks, program supervisor at Meals on Wheels, who suggested he should volunteer for the program that delivers a meal a day to homebound senior citizens. He's been doing it ever since. He's got a route near the Delta Oaks Shopping Center in Eugene with about 20 regulars. Over the years he's had what he calls some "experiences," Schyberg says. Two of his regulars had strokes during deliveries. Unfortunately, neither man survived. But he did help save the life of a woman who was having a heart attack when he brought her meal.

Asked why he volunteers and stays so busy in his golden years, Schyberg says: "What else is there to do?"

If you know someone who would make a great subject for a Register-Guard Profile, send it to Jim Murez at [e-mail] or P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440.

CAPTION(S):

Harold Schyberg Jr., a tenor, has sung with many choirs, including the one at First Congregational Church in Eugene.