She was a 1950 graduate of Ossian High School and 1954 graduate of Indiana University. Bea was a member of Delta Zeta sorority and later earned her master’s in elementary education from St. Francis College. Bea taught for 25 years in Fort Wayne Community Schools, retiring from Croninger Elementary in 1987.
She married Gordon Schannen in 1954, and together they raised two children and treasured time with their four grandchildren and one great-grandchild, especially at their school events and summer trips. Bea loved reading, quilting, and knitting afghans and Christmas stockings.
Bea was a member of Grace–St. John’s United Church of Christ for nearly 70 years. She valued time with neighbors, friends, and family.
She is survived by daughter, Julie (Kevin) Kinsey; son, Kenneth (Cathy) Schannen; grandchildren, Matthew Kinsey, Sara Kinsey, Madeline Schannen, all of Fort Wayne; Caroline Schannen of Boston; great-grandchild, Taryn Kinsey of Fort Wayne; sister, Patricia (Paul, deceased) Sheets of Granger, IN; and brother, David (Martha) Hoover of New Albany, IN.
Bea was preceded in death by her parents and husband, Gordon W. Schannen (December 27, 2014).
Funeral service will be 2:00 pm on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at D.O. McComb and Sons Maplewood Park Funeral Home, 4017 Maplecrest Road, Fort Wayne, IN, with visitation two hours prior. Private entombment at Covington Memorial Gardens Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana or to her church.
