The Story of the Van Schaack Family begins when Joyce and Jim meet in high school. In the fall of 1946 Jim joined the Army and trained at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, then was sent to Tokyo, Japan. Jim was assigned to the 1st Cav. Div. 8th. Cav. Reg. in Tokyo, Japan. Jim was then assigned to 8th Army Special Services and was sent to be director of A & R Athletics & Recreation at the Gohra Hotel in Gohra, Hakone, Japan.
Jim returned home to his parents in Los Angeles in 1948 and started college. The Van Schaack’s then moved to Van Nuys. Soon after he bought a 1938 Ford Coupe.
On November 25, 1949 Jim and Joyce were married at the Wilshire Crest Presbyterian Church and their life together began.
Jim continued getting his education and they rented a home and lived there for three years until Jim graduated. This is where Lee was born in 1952. In 1953 they bought a new home in Reseda, California in the San Fernando Valley and this is where Dana was born in 1955.
Jim’s first job was with the firm that designed the first climate controlled enclosed shopping center. Jim was on the team that designed it.
They traded in their 1950 Chevy for a Cadillac.
They sold their Reseda home and bought a home in Granada Hills, California where they lived until they built their home in Tarzana, California in 1966 and lived there until 1998.
Jim opened an office in Sherman Oaks and three years later he founded Leach – Cleveland – Van Schaack in Los Angeles in 1962.
They bought a new Oldsmobile Jetstar 88
