Leo was the second surviving son of John and Katherine Greuel Schneider. He was preceded in death, first, by the brother he never met, Alex, who died from juvenile diabetes before he was two years old. Decades later, he lost his brother Gregor of rural Manitowoc, and his sisters Edith Toepel of Kiel and Alexia Temme of Sheboygan Falls. He was survived by his brother John of Fond du Lac.
Although he was a 3rd generation American, Leo's first language was German. He learned English in grade school, where he completed eight grades before he was required to return to work full-time on the family farm following the untimely death of his mother, of tuberculosis, when he was 10. He assumed many of her duties and responsibilities in helping to raise his three younger siblings, and throughout his life remembered his mother with deeply felt emotion on the anniversary of her death, as well as Memorial Day. To us, his children, his mother seemed indistinguishable from the saints we learned about in catechism studies.
After service in the U. S. Army in the Philippines during World War II, where he learned to be an electrician, Leo returned home. On May 10, 1947, he married Anna Marie Konen, who had also grown up in rural German Catholic villages of Wisconsin's "Holyland." They lived in Fond du Lac County for the first 19 years of their marriage, then settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
He is survived by his wife and their seven children: Joe (Susan) of Fredonia; Irene of New York City; Kate (Anthony) Braus of Madison; Nic (Mary Gwen) of rural Portage; Rick (Linda) of Ripon; Bob (Phyllis) of West Salem; and Mary (Duane) Wepking near Dodgeville. Eighteen grandchildren also survive him, and 17 great-grandchildren as of November 2019, the month that marked the 21st anniversary of his death.
He was an active member of Holy Name Parish in Sheboygan and the local chapter of Optimist International, and with his wife, he was a volunteer with the local Meals on Wheels program.
A family man, Leo also loved to travel. He visited all 50 states and crossed both oceans, going to the Philippines as a soldier in World War II, and to Europe in the 1970s to see his daughter Mary who was attending college in England, and to meet distant family in Germany. A great-grandson, born 15 years after his death, is named Leo in his honor.
Although he was a 3rd generation American, Leo's first language was German. He learned English in grade school, where he completed eight grades before he was required to return to work full-time on the family farm following the untimely death of his mother, of tuberculosis, when he was 10. He assumed many of her duties and responsibilities in helping to raise his three younger siblings, and throughout his life remembered his mother with deeply felt emotion on the anniversary of her death, as well as Memorial Day. To us, his children, his mother seemed indistinguishable from the saints we learned about in catechism studies.
After service in the U. S. Army in the Philippines during World War II, where he learned to be an electrician, Leo returned home. On May 10, 1947, he married Anna Marie Konen, who had also grown up in rural German Catholic villages of Wisconsin's "Holyland." They lived in Fond du Lac County for the first 19 years of their marriage, then settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
He is survived by his wife and their seven children: Joe (Susan) of Fredonia; Irene of New York City; Kate (Anthony) Braus of Madison; Nic (Mary Gwen) of rural Portage; Rick (Linda) of Ripon; Bob (Phyllis) of West Salem; and Mary (Duane) Wepking near Dodgeville. Eighteen grandchildren also survive him, and 17 great-grandchildren as of November 2019, the month that marked the 21st anniversary of his death.
He was an active member of Holy Name Parish in Sheboygan and the local chapter of Optimist International, and with his wife, he was a volunteer with the local Meals on Wheels program.
A family man, Leo also loved to travel. He visited all 50 states and crossed both oceans, going to the Philippines as a soldier in World War II, and to Europe in the 1970s to see his daughter Mary who was attending college in England, and to meet distant family in Germany. A great-grandson, born 15 years after his death, is named Leo in his honor.
Leo was the second surviving son of John and Katherine Greuel Schneider. He was preceded in death, first, by the brother he never met, Alex, who died from juvenile diabetes before he was two years old. Decades later, he lost his brother Gregor of rural Manitowoc, and his sisters Edith Toepel of Kiel and Alexia Temme of Sheboygan Falls. He was survived by his brother John of Fond du Lac.
Although he was a 3rd generation American, Leo's first language was German. He learned English in grade school, where he completed eight grades before he was required to return to work full-time on the family farm following the untimely death of his mother, of tuberculosis, when he was 10. He assumed many of her duties and responsibilities in helping to raise his three younger siblings, and throughout his life remembered his mother with deeply felt emotion on the anniversary of her death, as well as Memorial Day. To us, his children, his mother seemed indistinguishable from the saints we learned about in catechism studies.
After service in the U. S. Army in the Philippines during World War II, where he learned to be an electrician, Leo returned home. On May 10, 1947, he married Anna Marie Konen, who had also grown up in rural German Catholic villages of Wisconsin's "Holyland." They lived in Fond du Lac County for the first 19 years of their marriage, then settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
He is survived by his wife and their seven children: Joe (Susan) of Fredonia; Irene of New York City; Kate (Anthony) Braus of Madison; Nic (Mary Gwen) of rural Portage; Rick (Linda) of Ripon; Bob (Phyllis) of West Salem; and Mary (Duane) Wepking near Dodgeville. Eighteen grandchildren also survive him, and 17 great-grandchildren as of November 2019, the month that marked the 21st anniversary of his death.
He was an active member of Holy Name Parish in Sheboygan and the local chapter of Optimist International, and with his wife, he was a volunteer with the local Meals on Wheels program.
A family man, Leo also loved to travel. He visited all 50 states and crossed both oceans, going to the Philippines as a soldier in World War II, and to Europe in the 1970s to see his daughter Mary who was attending college in England, and to meet distant family in Germany. A great-grandson, born 15 years after his death, is named Leo in his honor.
Although he was a 3rd generation American, Leo's first language was German. He learned English in grade school, where he completed eight grades before he was required to return to work full-time on the family farm following the untimely death of his mother, of tuberculosis, when he was 10. He assumed many of her duties and responsibilities in helping to raise his three younger siblings, and throughout his life remembered his mother with deeply felt emotion on the anniversary of her death, as well as Memorial Day. To us, his children, his mother seemed indistinguishable from the saints we learned about in catechism studies.
After service in the U. S. Army in the Philippines during World War II, where he learned to be an electrician, Leo returned home. On May 10, 1947, he married Anna Marie Konen, who had also grown up in rural German Catholic villages of Wisconsin's "Holyland." They lived in Fond du Lac County for the first 19 years of their marriage, then settled in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.
He is survived by his wife and their seven children: Joe (Susan) of Fredonia; Irene of New York City; Kate (Anthony) Braus of Madison; Nic (Mary Gwen) of rural Portage; Rick (Linda) of Ripon; Bob (Phyllis) of West Salem; and Mary (Duane) Wepking near Dodgeville. Eighteen grandchildren also survive him, and 17 great-grandchildren as of November 2019, the month that marked the 21st anniversary of his death.
He was an active member of Holy Name Parish in Sheboygan and the local chapter of Optimist International, and with his wife, he was a volunteer with the local Meals on Wheels program.
A family man, Leo also loved to travel. He visited all 50 states and crossed both oceans, going to the Philippines as a soldier in World War II, and to Europe in the 1970s to see his daughter Mary who was attending college in England, and to meet distant family in Germany. A great-grandson, born 15 years after his death, is named Leo in his honor.
