When Colorado Springs first welcomed Steve and the late Joyce Schuck to town more than half a century ago, the community had no idea what dynamic personalities had entered their midst.
The Schucks were living in New York before then, and Steve had never been west of Philadelphia. They wanted to come out west and were avid skiers. When an opportunity for a position as assistant to the president of Kaufman’s Department Store opened up, Schuck decided the time was right to move.
He did not enjoy the job but loved Colorado Springs. Deciding to stay in town with a change of career was the best choice for the Schucks.
Schuck had no experience in real estate, but the field fit his characteristics, personality and skill set. He began as a commercial real estate salesman and worked his way up to develop his own company, Schuck Communities, 51 years ago.
Schuck’s commercial projects throughout the city have made him a household name in Colorado Springs.
He mentions with pride one of his first projects, starting with 170 acres of infill land in the middle of the city, dedicated to crops and livestock in the area of the Union Printers Home.
Schuck states that the field of land development is cyclical and political.
He says that he “thrives on problems” and even that he has been accused of creating problems just to solve them.
The business, he says, is a volatile one, and includes the stages of buying, adding value, entitlement, selling and starting again. Schuck is able to visualize the future in a plot of land where others see only dirt.
As of Jan. 1, 2021, Schuck Communities began doing business as Schuck Chapman Companies. Schuck explains that Brock Chapman, the president and CEO of the company, had effectively been running the business for the past two years.
He had also been gradually buying into the company.
Schuck realized that it was “time to let go and move on.” He says that he is proud of the “great team” that he has had on board for the past 50 years. He maintains that the Schuck Communities foundation has built up a brand that stands for respect, integrity, community commitment and a business style that works.
He thinks that Brock Chapman is the perfect person to continue building the company and to impress upon it his own signature style and improvements.
In 1986, Schuck ran for governor of Colorado in answer to a group of friends and colleagues who saw in him qualities needed in a political candidate.
In the area of politics, Schuck says that he did not know what he was doing and that he was too idealistic for the political system; on the other hand, he learned that attitude, concern and passion were the most important aspects of his campaign.
“People don’t care what you know until they know you care.” Schuck says that anti-Semitism played no part at all in his loss of the gubernatorial race, as accused by some.
While campaigning for the Colorado governorship, Schuck became interested in the state educational system.
Before he and Joyce relocated to Colorado Springs, Schuck had been a math teacher and football coach in Syracuse, NY. During his push for governor, he became familiar with Colorado’s test scores in grades K-12 which had remained extremely low for many years.
He realized that the public school system was a monopoly, and that “monopolies don’t work.”
He became involved in creating a marketplace for schools to compete for students.
Schuck believes that the state should give parents resource control (i.e., vouchers) to shop for their children’s education. He feels that the power of future generations should be in the hands of parents.
Schuck realized that he could make a more needed contribution as a proponent of school choice than as a governor. He stays involved with this cause today.
Schuck, along with his late wife Joyce, was one of the founders of Parents Challenge, a program that educates parents about the “financial, informational and personal resources they need to choose, and actively participate in, the best [educational] option for their children.”
The program provides money from private sources to fund scholarships so that low-income parents can choose the best schools for their children.
Schuck reports that the program has funded 2,500 scholarships so far, and that 250 are in the program this year. Any child who qualifies for a free or reduced lunch by the state qualifies for a Parents Challenge scholarship.
The program is the only one in the country that includes public schools as one of the choices for parents. If this option is chosen, the scholarship money can go toward transportation, uniforms, computer equipment, tutors and other non-tuition expenses for the child’s education.
Schuck has succeeded his late wife Joyce as chairman of the board of Parents Challenge. He says that he is “building a revolution” and that “the future of the country is in the balance.”
Asked about his connection to his Judaism and Israel, Schuck says that he helped conduct Shabbat services when the Reform temple in Colorado Springs was known as Temple Beth El. He has been a member of Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs for many years.
He became less involved over the years as the synagogue became larger, more Conservative, and more political.
He remained a “proud Jew, but it was not the most important part of my life.” Schuck felt that he could better serve his fellow man through “other vehicles.”
Schuck took part in an AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) trip to Israel about 15 years ago. When his original plan to travel as a part of the Denver delegation failed to materialize, he joined the team from Arkansas. He describes his trip as “life-changing.”
Schuck met with Benjamin Netanyahu, in his first term of office, and the late Saeb Erekat, secretary general of the executive committee of the PLO and its principal negotiator at that time.
Schuck says that “there are no words that are adequate to describe the people, the country, the environment.”
Earlier, Schuck had helped his daughter Ann make aliyah to Israel. She returned home after a couple of years and most recently became a full-time caregiver for her mother Joyce, and now helps her father in their home in Colorado Springs.
When asked which project he is most proud of, Steve Schuck replies “my family.” He sees himself more as a father to his two sons and daughter and a grandfather of eight and great-grandfather of five, than as a real estate developer or education advocate.
When asked which of his projects or endeavors had the most impact on Colorado Springs, he replies, “it’s probably best to ask someone else.”
Copyright © 2021 by the Intermountain Jewish News
