Thomas Edmund “Eddie” Schneider,82

Sunday, November 09, 2014 3:09 PM
Thomas Edmund “Eddie” Schneider passed away Friday, November 7, 2014 at his home in Warsaw, Missouri after a 16 year battle with cancer.  Through his and others involvement in numerous experimental treatment programs, various new drugs are now available to other cancer patients. Eddie continued to live life at its fullest and was a mentor to others fighting their own health battles.

Eddie’s greatest pride was his friendships.   He held his many friends as his most precious possessions.  He raced cars, road motorcycles, flew airplanes, fished and hunted across North and Central America and was a nationally known champion trap shooter, and a member of the Missouri State Trapshooting Hall of Fame.  He often commented that he had lived a fuller life than most by the age of 40.  Eddie enjoyed his wonderful life of friends and good times until the end.  His motto was: “Live everyday as if it were you last”.

Thomas Edmund “Eddie” Schneider was born in Springfield, Missouri on June 24, 1932 to Edmund R. and Bonnie Lorena (Yeager) Schneider.  He attended Greenwood School in Springfield until moving to Warsaw, Missouri in 1946.  Eddie graduated from Warsaw High School in 1950, where he was co-captain of a championship basketball team.  After graduation he attended Southwest Missouri State College and Drury College before joining the Air Force during the Korean Conflict.

In 1953, in Denver, Colorado, he married Shirley Lee Neas. They had three daughters.

After serving four years in the Air Force, he returned to Warsaw to eventually farm the Teal Bend Farm owned by his beloved grandfather, J.S. Phillips.  In 1967, the farm was purchased by the Corp of Engineers for the Truman Dam project and Eddie moved his family to Freeman, Missouri where he resumed farming.

From 1970 to 1972, Eddie was a professional trap shooter for Kreighoff Gun Co. In 1977, he was divorced and moved back to the Warsaw area.

In 1984, he married Virginia (Vaughn) Mullins.  They operated a paint contracting business and enjoyed traveling and spending their winters in Florida.

Eddie is survived by his wife of 30 years, Virginia “Ginny” (Vaughn) Schneider of the home.  Two daughters, Terry Schneider and son-in-law James Ellis, of The Villages, Florida and Elise Keith, of Lincoln, Missouri.  Three grandchildren, Joel Thomas Schneider Wood of Poplar Bluff, Missouri, Clarise-Elise Keith, of Columbia, Missouri and Elijah Edmund Keith, of Warrensburg, Missouri.  Two great granddaughters, Fiona Rose and Hazel Lily Keith, of Columbia, Missouri.  Two nieces, Bonnie (Boegner) Thomas and family, of Fair Grove, Missouri, Tina (Boegner) McManus and family of Springfield, Missouri and a nephew, Phil Boegner and family of Glen Allen, Virginia.  He also leaves a multitude of lifelong friends who meant the world to him.

Eddie is a member of Lakeside Baptist Church, Warsaw, Missouri, a 32nd Degree Mason, former Worshipful Master of Masonic Shawnee Lodge #653 and a member of Ararat Shrine.  He was a life member of the American Trapshooting Association and a member of the 1970 – 1977 and 2006 Amateur Trapshooting Association All American Teams.

Cremation is being handled by Rea Funeral Chapel and Cremation Services, Sedalia, Missouri.  A celebration of life (Memorial Barbeque) will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. November 22, 2014 at Lakeside Chapel Baptist Church, Warsaw, with Pastor Bob Kelly officiating.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations to honor Eddie’s life be made to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (www.lls.org), Benton County Hospice or the charity of the donor’s choice.

Eddie was preceded in death by his parents; step-mother, Dorothy (Holloway) Schneider; sister, Eleanor (Schneider) Boegner and a daughter, Toni Loretta Schneider.