Rose Mary Schneider, 74, of Fond You Lac

Rose Mary Schneider, 74, passed away peacefully with her husband, daughter, and granddaughter at her side on March 9, 2025

Mary Rose Schneider, 74, of Fond du Lac, WI, peacefully passed away on March 9, 2025, at Harbor Haven Health and Rehabilitation in Fond du Lac with her husband, daughter, and granddaughter at her side.

She was born on July 25, 1950, in Corning, NY to Mary (Dunay) Sterpe and Louis Sterpe, Sr. Her mother was born in Czechoslovakia and came to the U.S. at a young age with her parents. Her father was born in Italy and came to the U.S. with his parents.

Mary graduated from Corning-Painted Post East High School. She was brought up with the Slovac ideals where girls did not ride bikes or drive cars. Shortly after graduating from high school, Mary decided that was not going to work any longer and went to the local car dealer and bought herself a new (stick-shift orange) Maverick. The salesperson drove Mary home in her new car and pulled up in front of their house. Mary jumped out, went into the house where she greeted her parents and said to her dad “Come look what I just bought - now you have to teach me how to drive” and he did.

Following high school, Mary completed Mohawk Airlines Career School in Utica, New York. She then moved to Washington DC where her sister Pat and husband lived. Mary began her working years at the Bureau of Naval Personnel in Civil Service as a Personnel Staffing Assistant. She received a Certificate of Appreciation for a job well done.

Mary met her future husband David in Washington DC where he was stationed in the U.S. Navy at the Washington Naval Shipyard. They were introduced to each other by Mary’s sister Pat who lived in an apartment next door to David. After a fairly short courtship of 4 months, Mary and David got married on October 9, 1971, in a small outdoor chapel on the northern outskirts of Richmond, Virginia.

Mary and David recall calling their parents and informing them of their wedding plans. Having only been dating for 10-12 weeks the reaction from their mothers was universal “Is it a must?”. Their first child Paula came along 4 ½ years later and Mary and David celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on October 9, 2021.

Mary and David remained in the Washington DC area until David’s honorable discharge from the Navy in April of 1973. Although somewhat hesitant, David convinced Mary to move to Fond du Lac. They lived on the north-east corner of Park Ave. and Division streets for 23 years in a duplex which they later purchased and converted into a single-family home.

Mary continued pursuing a career at Mercury Marine as a legal assistant until the birth of their first child in April of 1976. At that point, she decided to be an at-home mom to help raise their three children. In addition to being an at-home mom, Mary and David got involved in the coin-op laundry business owning and operating two coin-op laundries in the Fond du Lac area, all while raising three children and David pursuing his career at Giddings & Lewis. She also became involved with the Wisconsin Automatic Laundry and Cleaning Council as secretary/treasurer and editor of their monthly newspaper as well as writing articles for national magazines such as American Coin-op and Coinamatic Age.

As Mary’s children were growing up, she was very involved with volunteering at Chegwin Elementary School and St. Mary’s Springs High School. She was also involved with Friends Aware of Violent Relationships and served on the Fond du Lac Transit Advisory Committee.

When Mary’s youngest daughter Kristin started high school, Mary decided it was time to go back to work outside of her home. Mary received her Wisconsin Real-Estate license in the fall of 1996 and worked real estate until her retirement in December of 2022. Mary loved working in real estate and the relationships she gained from her clients. Mary was never a “top” producer but always put personal relationships with her clients ahead of how much commission she could make.

Shortly after their daughter Kristin’s death in 2005, Mary wrote a book entitled “Kristin’s Book – a life and death connection” which was published and made available through Barnes & Noble.

Mary was preceded in death by her daughter Kristin, mother Mary, dad Louis Sr., infant brother Adam, brother Don Lincoln, mother and father-in-law Catherine and Harold Schneider, brothers-in-law Bernie Casper and Harvey Petrie.

Mary will be dearly missed by her husband David, daughter Paula (Brian) Klapperich, son David (Nicky) Schneider II, sister Pat (Steve) Olson, brother Louis (Kathy) Sterpe Jr., sisters-in law Marlys Casper, Rose Ann Petrie, Janet Lauby, Pat Klapperich, Mary Pitzen, Kathy Schneider