Edward Jack Schneider was born on April 10, 1930 to Kasimer and Katherine (nee Schneider) Schneider on the family farm in Esmond, ND. The son of German immigrant parents, he grew up speaking German and English with equal fluency as he attended school in Esmond. As a young man he traveled throughout the Midwest working with threshing crews and joined his older brothers in becoming a union iron worker. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served in demolition in the peacekeeping forces in Italy after WWII.

He met his one true love, Betty Jean Walz, at a dance in northern Minnesota in 1953. Ed and Betty were married on October 15, 1956 at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Waubun, MN. Their first years together were spent traveling around the country as Ed worked as an iron worker building radar towers, power plants and other large building projects across the country. In 1964, with their oldest child starting school, they bought a beverage business and settled down in Sauk Centre to run Schneider Beverage together. He loved his garden and seemed happiest when he was out playing in the dirt, and he also loved to travel. But his greatest joy was seeing his family together. Each year the ever growing and far-flung family would gather for a three-day camping/lake trip where Ed grilled food, gave the grandchildren and great-grandchildren boat rides, and supervised lawn sports.

Ed was preceded in death by his wife, Betty (Walz) Schneider in 2018; his father, Kasimer Schneider, his mother, Katherine Schmidt; by 19 brothers and sisters; and granddaughter Christine Thieschafer.

Ed is survived by his children: Cindy (Mike) Karasch of Sauk Centre, Janet (Paul) Tillman of Newark, DE, Barb (Brad) Davis of Fountain Valley, CA, and Steve (Lynn) Schneider of Rosemount, MN; grandchildren Paula (Shawn) Bromenshenkel, Missy (Eric) Greene, Greg (Lacey) Thieschafer, Michael Tillman, Sarah Tillman, Trisha (Daniel) Park, Erica Davis, Emma Schneider, and Ryan Schneider; great-grandchildren Emily, Addison, and Maggie Bromenshenkel, Hudson and Lawson Greene, and Jaxson and Avery Thieschafer; one brother, Alphonso “Alfy/Leo” Schneider of Fargo, ND; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.

Patton-Schad Funeral Home