Photo of dying Appleton man sharing a last beer with his sons is resonating with thousands

Shane Nyman | Appleton Post-Crescent

Norbert Schemm wanted one last beer with his boys.

The 87-year-old Appleton man died last week after a recent diagnosis of stage 4 colon cancer. The night before, with his family gathered at the hospital, he made a simple request to share a beer with his three sons.

The moment captured in a photo shows Norbert; his wife Joanne; and his sons, Fox Cities residents Bob, Tom and John. They're sharing two bottles of Bud Light.

The photo was tweeted out the next day by Norbert's grandson, Adam Schemm, an Appleton native who now lives in Wauwatosa. The tribute to his grandfather read: "My grandfather passed away today. Last night all he wanted to do was to have one last beer with his sons."

As of noon Wednesday, the tweet had more than 30,000 retweets, more than 320,000 likes and more than 4,000 replies.

My grandfather passed away today.



Last night all he wanted to do was to have one last beer with his sons. pic.twitter.com/6FnCGtG9zW — Adam Schemm (@AdamSchemm) November 21, 2019

"It just seemed like a really good family moment and you can kind of see the look and the smile on his face," Adam Schemm told The Post-Crescent. "I can tell my grandfather's smiling, at least trying to. They all are accepting what's going to happen but they really cherish this last moment that meant a lot to them."

Adam said he was at first hesitant to share the photo, but decided to do it as part of his coping process.

"It was too good not to share with the world," he said.

RELATED: Norbert Schemm's obituary

Among the swarm of responses have been people sharing similar moments from their lives. One Twitter user shared a photo of a family taking a shot of Bailey's with their grandmother in a hospital bed. Another was a father-son photo sharing a beer and watching a Yankee game on TV.

The reaction to his tweet wasn't anticipated, Adam said, but he's enjoyed being able to talk a little more about his grandfather — he'd done a handful of media interviews over the past few days — and connect with others who've been in similar situations.

Bob Schemm said he was "dumbfounded" at how much attention the tweet has gotten, but in a way, he said, it makes sense for his dad.

"It’s a fitting end to his life. Everybody that he touched, that knew him — friends, family — he did leave an impact,” Bob said. "And being able to go out this way — it’s just unbelievable."

Norbert and Joanne were married 65 years and had four children: the three sons and a daughter, Paula Buchholz, who took the viral photo. There are nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Norbert graduated from Appleton High School and went on to serve in the U.S. Coast Guard. He coached baseball and worked for more than 40 years for Wisconsin Electric Power Company.

"It's really good to talk about my grandfather and the life that he lived," Adam said. "He was such a kind man and had high integrity, high character.

"And I haven't taken off the notifications on my phone. I still like seeing those pop up and reading comments and all that type of stuff. It's comforting seeing the comments and what the photo has meant to people, and people who've had similar situations and it kind of just restores faith in humanity where a moment like this can connect people."

Contact Shane Nyman at 920-996-7223 or snyman@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @shanenyman.

Sophie Carson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.