Memorial service for Dennis Schneider
February 21, 2025
Dennis Schneider passed away on June 6, 2024 after 51 years as a mathematics professor at Knox College. Along with his family, we are organizing a memorial celebration in his honor.
The memorial celebration will be held in the Lincoln Room at Knox on Saturday, May 3, 2025. We are asking attendees to arrive at 12:00, when drinks will be available. Lunch will begin around 12:30. Our tentative plan is that opening comments will be given by the Dean and Provost of Knox College, Michael Schneider, starting at about at 1:15. This will be followed by invited presentations given by family and friends.
When you arrive at the Lincoln room there will be a guest book you can sign as well as nametags to fill out.
If any of you would like to write up and share one of your memories of Dennis, please send that to williams@email.unc.edu. We will post the memories we receive on this webpage.
We encourage you to check this page occasionally for any time changes or updates.
To help us plan the lunch, we ask you to RSVP to williams@email.unc.edu if you plan to attend. Please let us know if you will be coming alone or with a companion. We ask you to do this as soon as you can, but before April 19, 2025.
We hope to see you in May,
Pedro Teixeira (Knox Math Department) pteixeir@knox.edu
Mark Williams (Knox class of 1977) williams@email.unc.edu
Update: March 7, 2025.
Here are a couple of items found recently by Jean Schneider. About the first,
Pedro Teixeira tells us: “The drawing was posted on the bulletin board next to Dennis’s office since I
arrived at Knox, and it’s probably much older (from the 80’s, maybe). Dennis
never figured out who did it.”
Pedro also provides some information about the other item:
“The press release and the flyers were my doing. It started when we were at Iron
Spike with Michael and Lindsey. Pokemons came into the conversation, and one of
them put their cell phone in Dennis’s hands, and Dennis caught a Pokemon right
there. Next day, I showed him that Mathematica knew about Pokemons, and Michael
took a few pictures of Dennis playing with Pokemons on his computer, without
Dennis noticing it. A few days later, Dennis was out of town for a day (I think
he went to Washington to participate in an NSF panel), and I put up copies of
the press release and the other fliers around the building—and Dennis kept
copies on his bulletin board.”
Update: March 10, 2025 from Jack Dechow (Knox 2019)
I started at Knox in the fall of 2015 as a physics major. Along with my fellow physic majors (and later roommates) Danny Andreev, Peter Driscoll, and Quinn Sharp, I took Calculus 1-3 and Linear Algebra with Dr. Schneider. Over the course of the ~1 year of daily classes with Dr. Schneider, we began to really enjoy the little phrases he would throw into each class. Things like “precision of language is important!”, “practice your derivatives every night, 10 times before bed”, and finally “It’s Miller Time!”. During our calculus courses, whenever Dr. Schneider would do a complicated example, once we all got through the actual calculus portion of the problem and it was only algebra remaining, he would always exclaim “and now its Miller Time!”. We all thought this was hilarious and started saying it to each other ourselves. I’m pretty sure it’s a reference to a 90’s Miller Lite commercial? Anyway, sometime around the end of second year we finished taking math courses with Dr. Schneider and thought it would be fun to get him a “Miller Time” sign to sort of commemorate the time we’d spent with him and the impact he had on all our educations and future careers. I think we each put up about $25 and we ordered it directly from China and gave it to Dr. Schneider. I am actually from Galesburg and would stop in to chat with him any time I was in town and was glad to see it was still hanging up. I went on to get my PhD in hydrology and spend the majority of my days doing linear algebra, so I think of these things often. I still have a copy of his Linear Algebra textbook which I use as my reference book. Danny, Peter, and Quinn all went on to be Electrical/Mechanical/Mechanical engineers after Knox. I’m sure they would all agree the impact Dr. Schneider had on us, for quite a while he was a sort of centralizing figure in our young lives.
As for my uncle Doug (also Knox Physics alum, 1990?1991?), when we had heard about Dr. Schneider passing, he relayed the following story to me:
“My last year at Knox, Dr. Schneider ran an independent study in Differential Equations for me over the summer so I could get the last credit I needed to graduate on time.”
Sorry for the lengthy email and delay in response. I just moved to Chapel Hill North Carolina this last week to start a new position at the University of North Carolina. I appreciate you all letting me keep the sign, I’m glad I’ll be able to keep it hanging. I think of Dr. Schneider often, and I’m very sorry for your loss. I hope these stories shine some light on the kind of person Dennis was, and the kind of impact he had on many, many students over the years at Knox College.
Update: March 11, 2025: Here is the obituary that appeared in the Galesburg Register-Mail on June 21, 2024, along with the picture that accompanied it.
Dennis Schneider died unexpectedly on June 6th, 2024, several days after being severely injured in a fall down a set of stairs. He was born in Detroit, Michigan on June 1, 1943, to Alton Charles and Virginia Katherine (nee Trombly) Schneider. A loving father to his four sons, he will be sorely missed by Robert, Mark, and Jacob, while Ben, the youngest, tragically died a few months before Dennis’s own death. Dennis is survived by his brother Bruce, his sister Linda Clark, his lifelong friend Jean Schneider, and his grandchildren (Alyssa, Spencer, Sophia, and Luciano Schneider). He will be missed by a number of close friends and colleagues, including, but not limited to, Frederick Ortner, Pedro Teixeira, and Mark Williams.
Dennis not only loved his family, he was passionate about mathematics. He received his B.S. in math in 1965, his M.S. in 1966, and his Ph.D. in 1973, all from the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty of Knox College in the fall of 1973, where he taught mathematics until the day of his accident. Dennis was a demanding and exacting teacher who always tried to draw out the best in his students, many of whom ended up pursuing careers in mathematics and/or related disciplines. He introduced a number of new pedagogical tools to teaching at Knox and to his brother, tools that facilitate the teaching and use of mathematics, the most notable of which was Mathematica. His classic textbook Linear Algebra: A Concrete Introduction, and the Knox Packages, a collection of Mathematica programs for calculus and linear algebra, are widely used and admired. In 1977 he won the Philip Green Wright-Lombard College outstanding teaching award, and, in 2007, the Distinguished Teaching Award of the Illinois Section of the Mathematical Association of America in 2007. His devotion to his students was unquestionably a major reason why, when a weighted ranking technique was used, Knox was rated among the top 30 undergraduate level programs in mathematics nationwide whose graduates would go on to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics or statistics.
His impact on students was recently attested to by a symposium at Knox on June 1st of this year that was held to celebrate his teaching career, and which was attended by a number of students whom he had taught over his 50-year teaching career. Unfortunately, Dennis did not get to attend this symposium, or to witness this tribute, because his fall occurred shortly before the symposium. Those who wish to hear these heartfelt tributes can view recordings of the conference at https://markwilliams.web.unc.edu/conference-in-honor-of-dennis-schneider/.
At this very sad time the family will hold a private, solemn funeral ceremony. At a later date we intend to hold a celebration of Dennis’s life and achievements to which all of his friends and former students will be invited.
Finally, in addition to his love of family and his passion for teaching mathematics, Dennis was also a lifelong dog owner and lover of dogs, and a firm supporter of social justice and welfare. In lieu of flowers, the family would suggest a donation in Dennis’s name either to your local Humane Society or to the Central City Concern, Portland Oregon (centralcityconcern.org), a charitable society known to Dennis that provides support and assistance to the underprivileged and those who could use a helping hand.
Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral and Cremation Service of Galesburg is honored to serve the family. Online condolences may be made on the funeral home’s website at www.h-p-w.com.