Kurt Frederick Schnellenbach

proudest member of the Fighting Texas A&M Class of 1956, passed from this life on Christmas Eve surrounded by his family. He was 92 years old.

He was born to Kurt Schnellenbach and Eleanor Victoria Zarychta

Schnellenbach on September 9, 1933 in Winooski, Vermont. The lifelong military career of his father, an immigrant from Solingen, Germany, soon brought them to a post in Hawaii at the Schofield Barracks where they remained stationed until the attack on Pearl Harbor. That December, the younger Kurt, his mother and younger sister returned to the mainland with other military family members as war refugees. From there, life resumed in a series of moves to Vermont, Michigan, Pennsylvania and eventually Versailles, France before the final assignment which brought them to Fort Worth, Texas where he and his sister arrived at Amon Carter Riverside High School speaking fluent French. He graduated from Riverside in 1952.

On Labor Day weekend of 1953, Kurt was pulled into a game of “42” with a good friend and then fortuitously partnered with a girl named Trixie Ann Adams. They lost the game, but that evening sparked a three-year courtship culminating in a marriage that lasted for 69 years and produced three daughters—all graduates of his beloved Texas A&M.

Kurt earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M in 1957. Following six weeks of basic training with the Army Corps of Engineers, he was assigned to the Construction Engineering Branch at the U.S. Army’s Engineering School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia where his primary duties were the design of military roads and airfields and the supervision of the plans drafted for those structures.

In 1959 Kurt was offered a position with the Texas Highway Department as a Senior Engineering Assistant which necessitated a return to Fort Worth. He was honorably discharged from the army in October of 1962 and in 1964 he accepted a job with the City of Arlington as a field engineer and was later promoted to Director of Public Works and then appointed as the city’s Capital Improvements Director. It was in that latter capacity that Kurt

successfully lobbied for and helped bring to completion Arlington’s Green Oaks “loop”, which created important connections between areas outside Arlington while helping to alleviate some of the burgeoning traffic issues inside the city itself. In 1983 Kurt was named one of three top public works employees by the Texas Chapter of the American Public Works Association. He retired in 1993 after nearly 30 productive years with the city. Kurt’s retirement years were filled with a variety of interests including running an antiques business with his wife, Trixie, watching his Aggies win (and then lose) in football, summer trips to Surfside Beach with family and traveling overseas to England, Italy and Germany. He was a member of the Arlington Senior Men’s Golf Association for which he served as a past president. He also served as a Chairman of the Board for the Arlington Federal Credit Union. He was a loyal member of First Baptist Church Arlington for 60 years as well as the Friendship Department Sunday School class. He deeply cherished the lifelong associations with the men and women of “The 42 Group” as well as the wonderful friends who made sure Kurt made it to the church’s Game Day every Wednesday.

Kurt was unstintingly loyal, ethical to a fault and he expected the same of others. He believed in a firm handshake and had little use for words with no action behind them. His devotion to family and friends was without question and even those who disagreed with him (and there were a few) could not help but respect him. He loved his school, his family as well as his friends and his faith in Christ was evidenced in particular with acts of service through his church and Mission Arlington. As someone aptly remarked, “He loved well and was well-loved”. He was especially adored by his grandchildren. There was simply no one like him. Kurt was predeceased by twin daughters Katherine Sue and Sheri Ann, his parents Kurt and Eleanor as well as a sister Marlene Schnellenbach Harris.

Survivors: Kurt is survived by his wife, Trixie Adams Schnellenbach,

daughters Stacy Bogle (Bryan), Teresa Munn (Gene) and Kristen Romano, six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one on the way.

Funeral Service: 1:00pm, Tuesday, January 20, 2026. First Baptist Church. Arlington. 301 S. Center Street, Arlington Texas.

Interment: 2:30 pm Moore Memorial Gardens. 1219 N. Davis Drive,

Arlington Texas. Dr. Charles Wade and Dr. Dennis Wiles will officiate.

Visitation 6-8 pm, January 19 at Moore & Sons Funeral Home. 4216

Bowen Road, Arlington, Texas.

Pallbearers: Greyson Bogle, Tucker Bogle, Wilder Bogle, Michael Zoghbi, Bryan Bogle and Gene Munn.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, if so inclined, please consider a gift in Kurt’s name to Mission Arlington. 210 W. South St, Arlington, Texas.