Visitation
Friday, April 7, 2017
4:00 PM to 7:00 PM EDT
Life Story Funeral Homes - Rupert, Durham, Marshall & Gren
Plainwell Location
120 South Woodhams Street
Plainwell, MI 49080
(269) 685-5881
Driving Directions
Service
Saturday, April 8, 2017
11:00 AM EDT
Life Story Funeral Homes - Rupert, Durham, Marshall & Gren
Plainwell Location
120 South Woodhams Street
Plainwell, MI 49080
(269) 685-5881
Driving Directions
Flowers
Below is the contact information for a florist recommended by the funeral home.
Plainwell Flowers
117 S. Main
Plainwell, MI 49080
(269) 685-8055
Driving Directions
Web Site
River Rose
(269) 692-3951
Life Story / Obituary
Lois Schneider was a loving wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She lived her life selflessly giving to others, making time to be there for her family and creating many lasting memories for those she leaves behind. Her many talents of cooking, baking, and hosting large family gatherings where she enjoyed serving her delicious spaghetti and meatballs and strawberry cheesecake over the years will be deeply missed by her family and special friends.
Despite the 1930’s being marked by tough economic times, the decade also saw an expansion of new technologies, especially in the fields of aviation, radio, and film. In 1936 for example, Kodachrome was invented and remained a steadfast leader in both cinematography and still photography for many years. In the same year, the Boulder Dam, later renamed the Hoover Dam was completed and Jesse Owens dominated the Berlin Olympics. Bringing great joy to their world, Otha and Geneva (Allen) Stone welcomed home their newborn daughter, Lois born on January 24, 1936 in Caruthersville, Missouri. Lois was the baby sister to her older brother, Luther “Buddy,” and she brought much happiness into their lives.
Spending much of her growing years in Missouri with her hard working set of parents, Lois learned the value of a day’s work at a young age. Her father worked in farming and her mother worked for Whirlpool. Later, the family moved to California, where Lois had many fond memories. When they settled back in Benton Harbor, Michigan she loved spending time with her aunts, uncles, and cousins. Family was important to her and she often shared stories of her closest relatives; Patsy, Bonnie, Beverly, Doyle, Dwight, George, Mary, and Martha. At the tender age of 17, Lois met Charles Schneider at a pool hall and her life was never the same! The two of them were quite smitten with one another and didn’t waste any time settling down and starting a family together. Nine months after they exchanged vows, their first child, Janetta arrived followed by Charles Jr., Brett, Loretta, and Jeffrey! Later, they moved their family to Kalamazoo’s Westnedge Hill area and Lois commuted to her job at Coloma Packaging. After a time they settled back in Otsego. Always a lover of roses, once she found her home on Melrose, she needn’t look any further! She then moved on to Kalamazoo Container, now known as Green Bay Packaging, where she worked as a quality manager until her retirement in 1998.
Lois had a wide range of special talents and interests. She loved to spend time out on the golf course as well as bowl on a league over the years. She also enjoyed camping for many years. Mostly they camped in the Baldwin area and Yankee Springs. They often set up camp in the deep lake or more rustic area of the campground. Lois wasn’t too fond of it, but knew it brought great joy to her kids, so she made the best of it! For many years, Lois hosted the traditional Thanksgiving holiday up until Green Bay Packaging started providing tickets to the Detroit Lions game and then Janette had to take over! Family was important, yet the Lions were her all time favorite team and she just couldn’t pass it up! During the Sunday games, she was known to cheer so loudly that the neighbors would know when there was a touchdown! She adorned her porch with a special goose dressed in a Lions cheerleader’s outfit from the season opener until sadly, another season was over. More recently, she was also a big fan of Jordon Speith, her favorite golfer. When the sports teams or golf games weren’t on, she gathered nightly with her furry companion, her cat, Vanna White, who had white feet to match her name, to watch Wheel of Fortune! She also never missed a single episode of her favorite American police drama, Blue Bloods. In between episodes each week, she’d catch an old movie on TCM or watch a silent movie classic. She was an avid reader and was a fan of James Patterson. When she was waiting for him to publish another novel, she passed the time with doing crosswords. She loved solving them and never wanted any help from anyone! Lois collected owls and had a house full of them! In addition to owls, she also loved clocks and collecting magnets. In fact, her refrigerator was covered in them! Hard to believe that she’d find any time for another passion of hers, yet she also loved to play Poker. She was quite competitive and was known to play from Friday night through Sunday from time to time!
Amidst her busy lifestyle, nothing brought her greater joy than building relationships with her grandchildren. She adored each and every one of them. Megan Schneider, Tracy Willis, Kami (Ben) Fein, Kara Valkner, Alexis, Elizabeth, Ashelee, Morgan, Zachary (Jessica), Brittany (Toby) Cole, Justin, and Jamie (Johnie) Knoles enjoyed many special visits with her over the years. She was especially fond of babies and would’ve been very happy to have more grandchildren! When her great-grandchildren, Jordon, Lewis, Caden, Skylan, Leighlayna, Kyana, Eli, Lucy, Rosemary Charlotte, and Eleanor Foster arrived, her heart was delighted! Described as sweet, loving, and generous beyond measure, her warm personality and sense of humor will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by all who knew her and loved her.
Lois Schneider, age 81, of Plainwell passed away on April 1, 2017 in the comfort of her home. Visit with her family and friends and view her life story film on Friday, April 7 from 4:00 – 7:00 at the Life Story Funeral Home, Plainwell; 120 Woodhams St. (685-5881). A funeral service will be held on Saturday, April 8 at 11:00 at the same location. Left to cherish Lois’s memory are her children: Janetta Valkner, Brett Schneider, Loretta Schneider, Jeffrey (Trina) Schneider; 12 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; daughters-in-law Rhonda Schneider and Kandy Schneider; son-in-law Rich Valkner; as well as several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles and son Charles Jr. Please visit Lois’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you can archive a memory or photo, and sign her memory book online.