Death Records - Constance (Oakes) Schneider

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 U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014

Name: Constance May Schneider
Last Residence:
76702 Waco, Mclennan, Texas
Born: 18 Sep 1923
Died: 24 Jun 2008
State (Year) SSN issued: California (Before 1951)

 

Constance Schneider
Published June 27, 2008

Private services for Constance May Schneider, 84, of Harker Heights will be held at a later date.

Mrs. Schneider died Tuesday, June 24, in a Killeen hospital.

She was born Sept. 18, 1923, to Millis and Irene Beeson Oakes in Colton, Calif. She had been a resident of Bell County for many years. She was a graduate of the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor. Prior to retiring, she was employed as a French, Spanish and algebra teacher with Killeen High School. She was preceded in death by a daughter, Barbara Kramer.

Harper-Talasek Funeral Home in Temple is in charge of arrangements.

Connie Oakes Schneider
September 18, 1923 - June 24, 2008

Connie Oakes Schneider

Connie Oakes Schneider was born September 18, 1923 in Colton, CA to Mills and Irene Oakes. She died June 24, 2008 at 84 years of age after brief illnesses. She is survived by two daughters, Kay Chase, Christine (Phil) Berkland and brother Bud (Barbara) Oakes. Daughter Barbara Swope predeceased her, as well as siblings Don Oakes and Marji Oakes Bakker and husband of 32 years, Maj. Maurice Schneider (divorced in 1974). They were blessed with nine grandchildren and four great grandchildren! They are grandchildren Tom, Richard, Audi, and Robert Swope; Holden (Lisa) Chase; Rohan Brown; Michael (Shawna) McKean; Valerie Virta: and Donny (Emily) Van Court and great geandchildren Zachary Williams, Saoirse Chase, Alia Brown and Katherine Van Court. She is also survived by many nephews and nieces.

Connie was valedictorian of her high school in Colton, CA, where she proceeded to UC Berkeley with a full scholarship to study math and music. The bombing at Pearl Harbor intervened and she took her finals not knowing if then-boyfriend Maurince Schneider survived on a ship sent to Pearl Harbor. They married and she was an army wife, which entailed working with the French Resistance sending care packages. That sparked her interest in languages. She became fluent in French, German and Spanish, and could speak in each language to the daughter who had studied it. Connie acquired her B.A. in Spanish from Mary Hardin-Baylor University in 1961 with honors raising three teenage daughters, continuing her study of French at the University of Texas in Austin. She taught French, Spanish and algrbra - mostly French - at Killeen High School for 40 years, retiring in 2002 at the age of 78.

Madame Schneider sponsored a vibrant French Club; back in the day, they would make crepes and croquet monsieurs to sell for trips to such destinations as Quebec and New Orleans. She taught a love for the language, culture, and food. She taught as many as four levels of French, sometimes having multiple levels in the same class so as to accommodate students. She was active in sponsoring students to San Antonio and Houston. Madame Schneider was a frequent visitor to France and a world traveler. She lived in Okinawa and Germay.

There will be a family burial service in Hermosa Cemetery, Colton, CA. Memorials preferred to the Killeen High School French Club, payable to KHS French Club, attn: Karen Breslin, 500 N. 38th Street, Killeen, Texas 76543 of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, P.O. Box 4072, Pittsfield, MA, 01202.