Richard C.

Schneider, Dick to his intimates, was born in 1929 to

immigrant German parents Oscar and Hilda. He was the youngest of five
siblings: Edith(Piehl), Paul, Frederick, and Lillian (Breitenwischer), all four
of whom predeceased him. He and his beloved wife of 55 years, Myrna, had
two children: Lora (Hagen), and Fritz, of Maryland. Both survive him, as well
as a granddaughter, Margaret, also of Maryland.
He attended public schools in Kenosha, Wisconsin, graduating in 1947,
which school yearbook notes only that he was a member of the Honor
Society, much to the amazement of his friends who were less academically
inclined. He had little time for extracurricular activities, managing a paper
route of some one hundred customers daily. He did find time, nonetheless,
to teach himself the wood-whittlers craft, and carved charming little figures
of dogs and deer, which he sold for a quarter or half a dollar.
Upon graduation from high school, he was employed for a year as an
assembly-line worker for Nash Motors, but left that job to enroll in the
University of Wisconsin-Kenosha Extension, and then transferred to
Milwaukee State Teachers College (now UWM) as an art education major.
He worked his way through college, living at home and commuting
from Kenosha to Milwaukee some thirty miles daily on an interurban line
which ran during those days, making just enough money as a grocery clerk
to meet weekly travel expenses. It was then that he met Myrna Hagen, who
was similarly commuting, and the couple found much in common in and
out of school. Myrna graduated before Dick and took a job as a special
education teacher in the Kenosha schools at just about the time that Dick
got a Greetings from the local draft board, which was a motivation, among
others, to join the couple in matrimony.
Dick completed his baccalaureate degree in art education, but with a
1A classification, could not find work teaching, and it was soon after that he
was called to active duty, and served almost two years at Ft. Leonard Wood,
Missouri, but was fortunate to be employed as an instructor in sheet metal
work. Soon after being inducted, the couples first child, Lora Lei, was born,
and again the family was fortunate in being able to be together in military
housing at the fort. Dick was able to obtain an early discharge with the rank
of sergeant, and the family moved to Antigo, Wisconsin, where he became
an art instructor for grades one through twelve. A second child, Fritz, was
born soon after moving to Antigo, and Dick began a part-time career as
an artist, specializing in printmaking and ceramics. Both disciplines were
nurtured by attending graduate summer classes at UW-Madison.
They left Antigo to move to Racine, where DIck taught high schoool
while finishing a masterss degree at Madison. In 1962, they moved to
Stevens Point to accept a position as assistant professor. The family also built

Richard C. Schneider, Dick to his intimates, was born in 1929 to immigrant German parents Oscar and Hilda. He was the youngest of five siblings:
Edith(Piehl), Paul, Frederick, and Lillian (Breitenwischer), all four of whom
predeceased him. He and his beloved wife of 55 years, Myrna, had two children: Lora (Hagen), and Fritz, of Maryland. Both survive him, as well as a
granddaughter, Margaret, also of Maryland.
He attended public schools in Kenosha, Wisconsin, graduating in 1947,
which school yearbook notes only that he was a member of the Honor Society, much to the amazement of his friends who were less academically inclined. He had little time for extracurricular activities, managing a paper
route of some one hundred customers daily. He did find time, nonetheless,
to teach himself the wood-whittlers craft, and carved charming little figures
of dogs and deer, which he sold for a quarter or half a dollar.
Upon graduation from high school, he was employed for a year as an
assembly-line worker for Nash Motors, but left that job to enroll in the University of Wisconsin-Kenosha Extension, and then transferred to Milwaukee
State Teachers College (now UWM) as an art education major.
He worked his way through college, living at home and commuting from
Kenosha to Milwaukee some thirty miles daily on an interurban line which
ran during those days, making just enough money as a grocery clerk to meet
weekly travel expenses. It was then that he met Myrna Hagen, who was
similarly commuting, and the couple found much in common in and out of
school. Myrna graduated before Dick and took a job as a special education
teacher in the Kenosha schools at just about the time that Dick got a Greetings from the local draft board, which was a motivation, among others, to
join the couple in matrimony.
Dick completed his baccalaureate degree in art education, but with a
1A classification, could not find work teaching, and it was soon after that he
was called to active duty, and served almost two years at Ft. Leonard Wood,
Missouri, but was fortunate to be employed as an instructor in sheet metal
work. Soon after being inducted, the couples first child, Lora Lei, was born,
and again the family was fortunate in being able to be together in military
housing at the fort. Dick was able to obtain an early discharge with the rank
of sergeant, and the family moved to Antigo, Wisconsin, where he became
an art instructor for grades one through twelve. A second child, Fritz, was
born soon after moving to Antigo, and Dick began a part-time career as an
artist, specializing in printmaking and ceramics. Both disciplines were nurtured by attending graduate summer classes at UW-Madison.
They left Antigo to move to Racine, where DIck taught high schoool
while finishing a masterss degree at Madison. In 1962, they moved to Stevens Point to accept a position as assistant professor. The family also built

a modest studio for Dick to pursue his work as a potter more readily. He
returned to UWM for course work on a master of fine arts degree, which
resulted ina promotion to full professor. During the hectic years of 196870, he was elected to two terms as Chairman of the Faculty (now Senate).
In 1975, he began research and development of the outdoor mural
on the Trainer Natural Resources Building, which houses the College of
Natural Resources. One of the several unique aspects of this project was
that all of the quarter-million ceramic tiles were hand-decorated and placed
by volunteers, a project which took several years. The mural was paid for
entirely by private donations, and was dedicated in 1982.
Dick also initiated a class on Native American craftwork, probably
the first in the country, where students learned to reproduce local and
forgotten Indian crafts for college credit. Dick also wrote and illustrated a
book, Crafts of the North American Indians, which remains in print today,
and which has even been translated into Italian.
In addition to other books which he wrote, he invented and wrote a
purely fictional and whimsical book about tiny creatures of the Northwoods,
the Minocki of the Lakeland region, which legend persists today.
Responding to criticism that he could make only round pots, he took a
new direction in the middle 1980s by mounting a show of some forty lifesized ceramic breastplates, which were shown throughout Wisconsin, and
as far as Florida and Georgia.
He retired from full-time teaching in 1988, but continued teaching
workshops, and active potting. Retirement permitted him to devote more
time to the ceramic arts in the pottery shop near Minocqua which he and
Myrna opened in the mid-1970s. Myrna died in 2006, but he continued
his potting activities in the studios in Minocqua and Stevens Point, where
he and Lora, who joined the business in 2001, are a member of Gallery Q/
Dicks devotion to his art required him to be at home during holidays,
but with the freedom of retirement, the couple began a series of excursions
to stranger climes. The pair as literally set foot on all the continents (yes,
even Antarctica) except Australia, but they made up for that by making
annual pilgrimages to England to satisfy Myrnas interest.

a modest studio for Dick to pursue his work as a potter more readily. He
returned to UWM for course work on a master of fine arts degree, which
resulted ina promotion to full professor. During the hectic years of 196870, he was elected to two terms as Chairman of the Faculty (now Senate).
In 1975, he began research and development of the outdoor mural
on the Trainer Natural Resources Building, which houses the College of
Natural Resources. One of the several unique aspects of this project was
that all of the quarter-million ceramic tiles were hand-decorated and placed
by volunteers, a project which took several years. The mural was paid for
entirely by private donations, and was dedicated in 1982.
Dick also initiated a class on Native American craftwork, probably
the first in the country, where students learned to reproduce local and
forgotten Indian crafts for college credit. Dick also wrote and illustrated a
book, Crafts of the North American Indians, which remains in print today,
and which has even been translated into Italian.
In addition to other books which he wrote, he invented and wrote a
purely fictional and whimsical book about tiny creatures of the Northwoods,
the Minocki of the Lakeland region, which legend persists today.
Responding to criticism that he could make only round pots, he took a
new direction in the middle 1980s by mounting a show of some forty lifesized ceramic breastplates, which were shown throughout Wisconsin, and
as far as Florida and Georgia.
He retired from full-time teaching in 1988, but continued teaching
workshops, and active potting. Retirement permitted him to devote more
time to the ceramic arts in the pottery shop near Minocqua which he and
Myrna opened in the mid-1970s. Myrna died in 2006, but he continued
his potting activities in the studios in Minocqua and Stevens Point, where
he and Lora, who joined the business in 2001, are a member of Gallery Q/
Dicks devotion to his art required him to be at home during holidays,
but with the freedom of retirement, the couple began a series of excursions
to stranger climes. The pair as literally set foot on all the continents (yes,
even Antarctica) except Australia, but they made up for that by making
annual pilgrimages to England to satisfy Myrnas interest.

Dick was looking forward to another pleasant and fruitful summer in

MInocqua, and opening the shop there on Memorial Day weekend.

Dick was looking forward to another pleasant and fruitful summer in

MInocqua, and opening the shop there on Memorial Day weekend.

Lora would like it known that Dicks end came peacefully in his sleep.
One of the last things he said to her on the day he died was The good Lord
certainly is letting me down gently. Im so fortunate. And so he was.

Lora would like it known that Dicks end came peacefully in his sleep.
One of the last things he said to her on the day he died was The good Lord
certainly is letting me down gently. Im so fortunate. And so he was.