Donald Irwin Schneider

September 16, 1932 - October 29, 2020

Fresno, California - Donald Irwin Schneider, our beloved husband, father, Grandpa, brother and uncle, joined his parents on October 29, 2020. He left us suddenly but with a lifetime of love and memories that will sustain us.

Don was born on September 16, 1932 in Fresno's "Rooshan Town," a community of German immigrants from Russia known as Volga Germans. His parents, Henry H. and Anna Schneider, his eldest sister, Anna, and infants Henry Jr. and Louisa fled their village of Stahl on the Volga River in 1921 after surviving the Russian Revolution and World War I. After enduring hardships including the loss of the youngest children, the family eventually reached Fresno, settling on the West Side on C Street. Don, with his parents and three older sisters and a brother, had a loving and happy childhood. Don and his parents moved to a new neighborhood south of Ventura and Hazelwood avenues in 1945, and Don graduated Roosevelt High School in 1950.

He joined the Army in 1953 and narrowly missed being deployed to Korea, where a truce was declared on the eve of his departure. Instead, he was stationed in Germany on the Autobahn as a highway patrol officer with his buddy Sal Priolo, who remained his close friend for the rest of his life. Their children grew up together.

Don returned from duty to meet the love of his life, Helen Coffey of Sanger, who was leaving the Rainbow Ballroom in Fresno with her friends as he was arriving with his. He was smitten. They married at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in 1956. Don took a job at Pacific Bell and they started their family in a little house on Garland Avenue, where he planted a palm tree that still stands.

Many moves and promotions later, to Monterey, Sacramento, the Bay Area and back to the Valley, Don and Helen and their three children eventually returned to Fresno and their roots. He had numerous interests and passed on his intellectual curiosity to his children. With Helen, he shared a love of dancing, golf, bowling and other sports, backyard barbecues, travel and family. Many summer evenings they could be found at the Bullard High School tennis court, and in their backyard on Barstow Avenue, poolside, gazing at the stars and discussing the day's events. Each summer, they vacationed at Huntington Lake, where he taught his children to fish. They nurtured their friendships. They made homemade ice cream.

Don earned an Associate's degree at Fresno City College and nearly completed a Bachelor's degree at Sacramento State University. After his early retirement from "The Phone Company," Don joined Helen in her real estate appraisal business, Schneider Associates.

After retiring from real estate, Don and Helen spent 18 happy, active years in Arizona before coming home to Fresno. They anticipated spending many more years enjoying family and friends, but as it happened, God had other plans.

Don will be remembered for his warm and easy laughter, his honesty and patience, his continuing curiosity in life, and the fierceness of his love and loyalty. He had a deep faith and served as deacon at Christ Lutheran Church during the time the family lived in Visalia. While we will miss you terribly, we will find comfort and peace in the memories you created and the life we shared, and in the certainty that we will meet again.

Don was preceded in death by his parents, Henry H. and Anna Schneider; his sisters Anna Karle, Emma Page, and Louisa Schneider; brother Henry Schneider Jr.; and grandson Jordan Daniel Schneider.

He leaves behind his love and wife of 64 years, Helen Marie; his daughter Janelle (John); his daughter Julie; his son, Craig (Teresa); his granddaughters Britani Wood, Bevin Lorraine and Lily Townsend; his grandsons Michael Emparan, and Ryan and Matthew Schneider; his brother, George Schneider; his sister Esther Bach; nieces and nephews; and friends in Sun City West, Arizona, and throughout California.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.lislefuneralhome.com for the Schneider family.