Mary Schneider passed away peacefully at her home on Sunday July 22, 2018, at the age of 93. She was born on April 24, 1925 to Anton and Veronica (Lauinger) Fettig in Linton, ND, the seventh of nine children. Mary spent her childhood on the North Dakota prairies; milking cows, tending the wheat fields, and helping with whatever other chores needed to be done. She was an incredibly hard worker.
As a young woman, Mary met and fell in love with a close neighbor, Anton (Tony) Schneider. The couple was married at St. Michaels Catholic Church on July 26, 1944. Just 3 months after their wedding, and in the midst of Mary’s first pregnancy, Tony was called to military service. Mary moved from the farm to live with Anton’s sister in Aberdeen, SD where she gave birth to her first child while Anton was stationed in the Philippines. Anton returned home in 1946, and the family moved to a trailer home on the banks of the Missouri River in Bismarck, ND. Mary worked at St. Alexius Hospital for several years. Eventually, the couple moved into a house in town, where they had four more children over the next several years. As work was getting harder to find, Anton and Mary decided to move to Portland in 1953, joining her parents and several other family members who had moved there previously. Mary then worked at two hospitals over the years and had to retire early from Emanuel Hospital due to an injury.
Mary loved to bake (We will really miss her homemade desserts!), play bingo, play cards, do word puzzles, bowling, dancing, and working in her yard. She also loved the excitement and fun of going to Las Vegas and Reno. Our mother was: loving, generous, sassy, strong willed, hilarious, high energy. She just wanted to dance and have fun (especially in her later years). She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother.
Mary is preceded in death by her husband of 72 years, Anton Schneider; sisters Margie Rowlands, Eva Feist and Johanna Mustschall; brothers Steve, Tony, and Wendelin Fettig; and grandson Perry Molyneux. She is survived by five children: Tony Jr. (Reyna), Helen Schneider, Shirley Molyneux, Thomas, and Robert; nine grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren; and sisters Kathy Norris and Betty Keller.
We will always love and miss you, Mom.
