UPDATE: Victor Schiman (Simon)

[radar1979]

It may sadden some of you to know that Victor Schiman, the man from central Ohio who was orphaned in the 1920s and later learned that his efforts in locating his parent's identities was merely a result of confusion over the pronunciation of his last name (Simon or Schiman)...passed away in 1995 at the age of 74. His mother died after giving birth to him in 1921 and his father was injured at the time and forced to give Victor up for adoption. At the time, Victor had three living siblings, Brother George and Sisters Lina and Emma.

In his official death index, his name was still listed as Victor Schiman, and not simon. Indeed, the confusion over his last name is so complete, that I was unable to locate either of his parents, or any of his siblings in any census records, even though the segment supplied me with an exact town and even an exact adress in said town. Very frustrating!

I do not know if he was ever able to locate any of his siblings or other relatives, but no update was ever added to his segment.

Not exactly a fitting end to a story, but an end none-the-less.

[ididn'tdoit]

Hey radar, thanks for posting that! This was always one of my favorite Lost Love segments, I felt so sorry for the poor guy. Really sad update With this probably airing in 1990 or 1991, he didn't have much time left after that

[mphs95]

That's really sad.....I hope he was able to find his family before he passed. His segment was one of the few lost love ones I liked.

BTW, radar, the avatar is hysterical!

[Todd Mueller]

How sad...

When they showed the re-enactment with them announcing him by his birth name at graduation and no one being there for him, it was heartbreaking. Ugh. So sad he never found what he was looking for.

Thanks for the update!

[TracyLynnS]

I recently saw this segment. It was just horribly sad...

Why was he told that if he behaved himself and finished school, his birth family would be present for the ceremony on his graduation day?

Obviously, if they weren't lying, that person could have informed him about who his birth parents were right then, rather then making him wait months or years, until high school graduation, to finally meet them.

Was he just told that to make him be a better student or so the teacher could control him better in class? What was the motive for such a cruel lie and who was the person who lied to him?

[TracyLynnS]

I've answered some of my own questions.

When he was 16 years old, "a concerned social worker" told Frank that his real name was Victor Shiman/Simon/Schmon and that if he "applied himself and stayed in school, his real parents would be in the audience when he received his diploma".

That doesn't sound like a concerned social worker, to me. It sounds like some disinterested slacker who didn't want to have to do his job so he just came up with an excuse to get Victor out of his hair for the next couple years.

When Victor's graduation day arrived, and he was so excited to finally meet his parents, the social worker probably didn't even know the event was taking place. I doubt he even remembered his lie from 2 years prior that was the source of Victor's false hope.

[egswanso]

Originally Posted by radar1979

It may sadden some of you to know that Victor Schiman, the man from central Ohio who was orphaned in the 1920s and later learned that his efforts in locating his parent's identities was merely a result of confusion over the pronunciation of his last name (Simon or Schiman)...passed away in 1995 at the age of 74. His mother died after giving birth to him in 1921 and his father was injured at the time and forced to give Victor up for adoption. At the time, Victor had three living siblings, Brother George and Sisters Lina and Emma.

In his official death index, his name was still listed as Victor Schiman, and not simon. Indeed, the confusion over his last name is so complete, that I was unable to locate either of his parents, or any of his siblings in any census records, even though the segment supplied me with an exact town and even an exact adress in said town. Very frustrating!

I do not know if he was ever able to locate any of his siblings or other relatives, but no update was ever added to his segment.

Not exactly a fitting end to a story, but an end none-the-less.

I couldn't find the family in the 1920 Census either, but i WAS able to find them in the 1930 Census. They had moved to Michigan.

Enumerated in the 1930 Census for Dearborn, Wayne Co. MI (pg. 26B, ED 892, lines 66-70) is Daniel SCHYMAN, aged 50, a widow, born Austria (Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of his birth). What confirms this is the right family is the enumeration of his children:

Emma, aged 15, born Ohio.
Joseph (not George, as stated in the segment), aged 14, born Ohio.
Lena, aged 13, born Ohio.

Also living with the family is a 37-year old boarder, Joseph DRAZOMAN (also born Austria).

I was able to find out a little more about Victor's brother. Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Army on 8 August 1942. He was single at the time. He appears to have survived the war and COULD be the Joseph Simon who died in September 1967, according to the SSDI.

I couldn't find anything on his sisters.

[dynoguy88]

I've lived in Dearborn, MI my entire life. That's interesting if the family moved to my neck of the woods back in the day. I wonder how long they lived here.

[Psyclone30]

Hello everyone,

I came across this discussion board while searching for the full episode of my grandfather's plight to find his family. Yes, Victor was my grandfather. He passed away in 1995 never having met any of his family. However, he was able to speak, over the phone, with what he believed was a distant cousin that resided in Arizona, at the time. Through this contact he believed he may have found family in Romania.

I remember helping him decide what to say in a letter he had written to them. He did learn, because of the political environment of those days, they were in need of funds. From the time he learned of this, until the day he died, he sent regular monthly checks in the amount of 25-50 dollars; he was on social security, at the time of his death, so funds were limited.

If I learned anything from him it was the importance of family, children, and hard work. My grandfather did not retire until late 1994. This was due to the company he worked for finally ending his employment because of age concerns. He passed away within 6 months. He had planned on taking a trip to Romania once he had enough money saved so that he could see the face of a relative for the first time in his life. This goal was never realized.

To this day I miss him.

[xxxxmattxxxx69]

Originally Posted by egswanso

I couldn't find the family in the 1920 Census either, but i WAS able to find them in the 1930 Census. They had moved to Michigan.

Enumerated in the 1930 Census for Dearborn, Wayne Co. MI (pg. 26B, ED 892, lines 66-70) is Daniel SCHYMAN, aged 50, a widow, born Austria (Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of his birth). What confirms this is the right family is the enumeration of his children:

Emma, aged 15, born Ohio.
Joseph (not George, as stated in the segment), aged 14, born Ohio.
Lena, aged 13, born Ohio.

Also living with the family is a 37-year old boarder, Joseph DRAZOMAN (also born Austria).

I was able to find out a little more about Victor's brother. Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Army on 8 August 1942. He was single at the time. He appears to have survived the war and COULD be the Joseph Simon who died in September 1967, according to the SSDI.

I couldn't find anything on his sisters.

I don't see why UM would lie about a person's first name unless they were concealing it for their protection. A "George Simon" from Michigan died in 1983 at the age of 67 with their age matching what it would have been at the time of the original segment but he was already deceased

[justins5256]

Originally Posted by Psyclone30

I remember helping him decide what to say in a letter he had written to them. He did learn, because of the political environment of those days, they were in need of funds. From the time he learned of this, until the day he died, he sent regular monthly checks in the amount of 25-50 dollars; he was on social security, at the time of his death, so funds were limited.

That is really cool. Sadly, it is rare to see that kind of dedication these days.

I'm sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing. I remember always hoping for an update whenever I would watch his story on Lifetime.

[Mysteryphile]

I hope that was a real relative he found in Romania and not just someone trying to scam him...maybe watching UM has my mind immediately turning to fraud lol...

Have you ever thought of going to Romania yourself to meet these distant relatives?

[Cori aka ChrisSCrush]

Originally Posted by Todd Mueller

How sad...

When they showed the re-enactment with them announcing him by his birth name at graduation and no one being there for him, it was heartbreaking. Ugh. So sad he never found what he was looking for.

Thanks for the update!

Yes, I never forgot that and the frustration that it was all a spelling/pronunciation misunderstanding.

[Psyclone30]

That is really cool. Sadly, it is rare to see that kind of dedication these days.

I'm sorry to hear of your grandfather's passing. I remember always hoping for an update whenever I would watch his story on Lifetime.

Thank you, he will forever be missed by everyone that knew him. Besides the births of my own children and later my grandchildren, the best moments of my life have been with my grandfather and grandmother. I am hopeful that I learned enough to be the kind of grandpa, to my grandchildren, as he was to me.

I hope that was a real relative he found in Romania and not just someone trying to scam him...maybe watching UM has my mind immediately turning to fraud lol...

Have you ever thought of going to Romania yourself to meet these distant relatives?

With the help of Rose, Unsolved Mysteries, and a few other organizations, the confidence level that these were relatives was somewhere in the 95-97% range. The verification process took quite awile. In the end my grandfather felt for the first time in his life he may have found whom he belonged, all he wanted was to be held one time and told "Victor, you belong to us." He came so close.

Personally, I have thought about trying to finish my grandfather's quest. If the time comes that allowed my wife and I to be able to afford the trip, and have the time off work without losing our jobs, I would finish his journey. I am hopeful this will happen in my lifetime.

Yes, I never forgot that and the frustration that it was all a spelling/pronunciation misunderstanding.

A little known fact when this all started, my grandfather celebrated his birthday September 5th of every year, his entire life. He learned his birthday was actually September 4th. It is not known why he was told September 5th or by exactly whom.

When my grandfather passed away, He made sure to not change his name from Shiman. This is the name he had his entire life and the name by which he had created his own family. He also never changed celebrating his birthday from September 5th. He said it gave him an extra day to stay at his current age of the time.

[Mysteryphile]

I'm really happy that the Romania relatives were 95% verified and that your grandfather felt like he might have found some of his missing people before he died...