Connie Schneider

Connie Oakes Schneider

Connie Oakes Schneider was born September 18, 1923 in Colton, CA to Mills and Irene Oakes. She died June 24, 2008 at 84 years of age after brief illnesses. She is survived by two daughters, Kay Chase, Christine Phil Berkland and brother Bud Barbara Oakes. Daughter Barbara Swope predeceased her, as well as siblings Don Oakes and Marji Oakes Bakker and husband of 32 years, Maj. Maurice Schneider
orced in 1974. They were blessed with nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren They are grandchildren Tom, Richard, Audi, and Robert Swope; Holden Lisa Chase; Rohan Brown; Michael Shawna McKean; Valerie Virta: and Donny Emily Van Court and great geandchildren Zachary Williams, Saoirse Chase, Alia Brown and Katherine Van Court. She is also survived by many nephews and nieces.

Connie was valedictorian of her high school in Colton, CA, where she proceeded to UC Berkeley with a full scholarship to study math and music. The bombing at Pearl Harbor intervened and she took her finals not knowing if then-boyfriend Maurince Schneider survived on a ship sent to Pearl Harbor. They married and she was an army wife, which entailed working with the French Resistance sending care packages. That sparked her interest in languages. She became fluent in French, German and Spanish, and could speak in each language to the daughter who had studied it. Connie acquired her B.A. in Spanish from Mary Hardin-Baylor University in 1961 with honors raising three teenage daughters, continuing her study of French at the University of Texas in Austin. She taught French, Spanish and algrbra - mostly French - at Killeen High School for 40 years, retiring in 2002 at the age of 78.

Madame Schneider sponsored a vibrant French Club; back in the day, they would make crepes and croquet monsieurs to sell for trips to such destinations as Quebec and New Orleans. She taught a love for the language, culture, and food. She taught as many as four levels of French, sometimes having multiple levels in the same class so as to accommodate students. She was active in sponsoring students to San Antonio and Houston. Madame Schneider was a frequent visitor to France and a world traveler. She lived in Okinawa and Germay.

There will be a family burial service in Hermosa Cemetery, Colton, CA. Memorials preferred to the Killeen High School French Club, payable to KHS French Club, attn: Karen Breslin, 500 N. 38th Street, Killeen, Texas 76543 of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, P.O. Box 4072, Pittsfield, MA, 01202.

Memorial Contributions