Marlene Schneider Memorial Fund

“What a pretty plate.” It could be just a regular weeknight dinner, but Marlene Schneider found joy in the everyday. Whether it be celebrating the garden coming in (“A toast! To new potatoes!”) or later, when dementia impacted her ability to remember family facts (“Oh, you got married? Wonderful!”), she celebrated the good things in life with bright eyes and an incredible smile.

Her partner in this adventure was Keith, her husband of 55 years. Where he liked a sense of ceremony and big projects, she liked cozy connection and small moments. Together, they got both. They held hands through her last moments.

Marlene was born in 1947 in Foam Lake, Saskatchewan, to Eric and Dora Mumford. She and Keith had three children: Signi (Trevor), Jonathan (Erica), and Abby (Jordan), and six grandchildren (Blake, Kiernan, Ellie, Callie, Magnus, and Killian). Marlene also built a special relationship with Shauna and Tim Archer (and their children Kaleb and Annie), who were not blood relations to Marlene but were family nonetheless.

She savoured time with family, particularly the merry chaos of Saturday morning Mumford breakfasts at Fishing Lake. She loved the rowdy storytelling of her sisters Margie, Donna, Glenis, Leigh and her brother Guy and their partners Brian, Paul, Bill, Menes and Angie and all their families. On the Schneider side, she loved Christmas and Easter celebrations and annual shinny games with Ken and Sharon, Floyd and Raema, Dori, Brenda and Dwayne and their families.

Marlene thought every person was worthy and found delight in them, even when they were struggling. Through her job at Regina Work Prep Centre, she coached life-skills and supported people to become independent and employable. She deeply loved her role, clients, and coworkers and it’s where she established life-long friendships with Vikki and Chris. Although she took her work seriously, laughter regularly filled the office.

Thankfully, Marlene extended this sense of humour and grace to herself. In the toughest moments of dementia, when she couldn’t find the door to the basement, she said with a smile, “I’ll get that right someday.”

Marlene passed away in the early morning of February 5th. She will be deeply missed.