Carol Ruth (Schiener) Case

Carol R. Case passed away peacefully early Friday morning, July 5, 2019, at her residence at The Wesleyan at Estrella Assisted Living in Georgetown, Texas. She was 95 years of age and had lived at The Wesleyan for the last nine years of her life.

She was born Carol Ruth Schiener in Buffalo, New York on Christmas Eve, December 24, 1923, to Walter F. Schiener, Sr. and Marian A. (Templeton) Schiener. Carol was the second of a family of five brothers and sisters. Her father Walter was a sales manager for the W. A. Case & Son Mfg. Co. of Buffalo, New York, a plumbing fixture supply company established in 1853. He was assigned the sales territory of eastern New York State and moved the family to the New York City suburb of New Rochelle, New York where Carol spent her early years.

During the Great Depression, W.A. Case was forced to down-size and the family moved back to the Buffalo, New York area. Although her dad was able to remain with his company, Carol and her family moved in with long-widowed maternal grandmother, Margaret Templeton, at her home in Sardinia, New York. Carol and her siblings attended the small high school in Sardinia where she was active in cheerleading and track & field. There were only six in her graduating class in 1941.

During high school Carol met her future husband Maxwell H. Case of Franklinville, New York, at the Lime Lake Pavilion dance hall in Machias, New York. They were introduced by her older sister, Jane, and dancing became the new couple’s passion. A year ahead of her in school, Max was attending the engineering program at Mechanics Institute in Rochester, New York (now Rochester Institute of Technology) when the United States entered World War II after the December 1941 bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Max left college to enter the U.S. Army while Carol moved in with her sister, Jane, in Buffalo and worked as a waitress at the Quaker Bonnet restaurant. Max served in the European theater, was wounded in France, and received the Purple Heart. He recovered and was enroute to the Pacific theater when the war ended. He returned home and they were married in the backyard of the Sardinia residence on November 17, 1945.

The couple settled in Franklinville where Max and his dad, Hughson L. Case, a retired industrial arts teacher, became partners in a machine shop, Case Machine & Tool Co., in operation for 17 years from 1945 until 1962. Carol became a stay-at-home mom and raised three children: Robert born in 1946, William born in 1948, and Susan born in 1951. In 1962, Max and his dad sold the machine shop, and he took a position as a mechanical engineer with Motorola, Inc. in Arcade, New York. He remained with the company for 26 years and the empty-nester couple relocated first to company headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois in 1975 and then to the company’s Seguin, Texas facility in 1977.

They built a beautiful home in New Braunfels, Texas where they resided for over 30 years. Both before and after retirement in New Braunfels, the couple was active in at least two dance clubs and participated every year in the Lion’s Club activities at the city’s annual Wurstfest event. Everyone agreed that Carol and Max positively glowed when they were on the dance floor together. Max died in October of 2008 and the following year Carol moved to the Georgetown, Texas area to be near her daughter, Susan, and family. At Georgetown’s The Wesleyan she made many friends and remained active playing bridge and competing in golf putting competitions.

Carol R. Case was preceded in death by her husband of nearly 63 years, Maxwell H. Case; her sister, Jane Rosier; and her brother, Walter F. Schiener, Jr. She is survived by her brother, Robert Schiener of Sardinia, New York; her sister, Margaret Gertis of Arcade, New York; her three children: Robert (Susie) Case of Bristow, Oklahoma, William (Debbie) Case of Blue Hill, Maine, and Susan (Glenn) Beck of Georgetown, Texas; her grandchildren: Emily Case of Santa Clarita, California, Amanda (Josh) White of Albuquerque, New Mexico, Erin (Ian) Claxton of Burbank, California, and Gregory (Katina) Beck of Round Rock, Texas; and nine great grandchildren.

Carol will be interred next to her husband Max at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas. A graveside Celebration of Life will be held for family and friends on Friday, October 4, 2019 at 1:15 p.m.

The family asks that donations in her memory be made to: Wesleyan Homes Benevolent Fund, P.O. Box 486, Georgetown, TX 78627-9973.