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Merl Schneidenbach

December 1, 2016
Kalamazoo, MI

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Merl Harold Schneidenbach, age 88, of Kalamazoo, MI died December 1, 2016. Born as his parent's only child during the Depression, in Detroit, Michigan, he graduated cum laude from Pershing High School. May 1946, the last day of the draft for WWII, Merl was inducted into the U.S. Army and sent to Fort Sheridan, IL. He was sent to Fort McClellan, AL, then on to Los Alamos, New Mexico where he was selected to volunteer for the assignment of Company E, Corps of Engineers at the Manhattan Project near Los Alamos, NM, where he learned field surveying and was assigned special detail in the restricted camp where the scientists worked. He was honorably discharged due to WWII ending and started work at the Chrysler Corporation where his father also worked. In the September 1947 Merl enrolled and entered Michigan College of Mining and Technology in the Sault St. Marie branch, MI. This is where he learned ice hockey, which eventually led him to join a team in Detroit which played occasionally in Canada. On October 4th 1948, Merl was hired with Michigan Bell Telephone Co. where he worked his way from station installer to Operations Manager of Michigan accounts in December 31, 1983. He was 2nd in charge of a 5-state area. He met his wife, Margaret May Goodman in 1949, while they both worked at the phone co. Merl and Margaret were married May 27, 1950, and had a 61-year marriage with his best friend and partner. Merl is survived by his 3 children; Kerry L. Truesdell, Lynn G. Forbes and Brian A. Schneidenbach, 5 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Margaret May Goodman, mother, Minna Schultz Schneidenbach and father; Arthur E. Schneidenbach. Merl and Marge lived in Troy and Kalamazoo, MI, Estes Park, CO, and Lake Placid, FL. He was a swimmer, a Baseball player, a bowler, a Euchre player, tennis player and hockey. He was very involved with the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. He was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Lake Placid and later with New Life Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sebring. He moved from Florida to Kalamazoo, Michigan August of 2016. He will be missed greatly by his family. Cremation has taken place and a memorial service will take place in January, with date and time to be announced later. Memorials can be sent to Great Lakes Hospice or Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan. Arrangements by Langeland Family Funeral Homes, Memorial Chapel