Sophie Schneer, 89
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Sophie Schneer, 89, of Sweetwood Retirement Community died Tuesday, July 28, 2009, at Sweet Brook Care Centers after suffering for many years from Alzheimer's disease.
Born in New York City on June 28, 1920, she was the daughter of Russian immigrants Solomon and Dvoira Finkelstein Solomonoff, who fled the war-ravaged European continent for a better life in America. She attended Mount Vernon High School and earned her bachelor's degree in 1941 from Brooklyn College. She moved to Hancock in 1961.
Mrs. Schneer taught third and fourth grade at Williamstown Elementary School for 20 years. During and immediately following World War II, she worked for the Holt Publishing House, among others, in New York.
Music and modern dance loomed large in her life; at age 14 she won the gold medal for young pianists in New York City, and she danced for several companies and for Leon Theremin, who later invented the electronic instrument that bears his name. She choreographed and danced in some of the Williams College productions, notably "Guys and Dolls" in 1964.
Many of her students will remember her original songs designed to teach the basics of grammar. Many more will remember a kind, generous, and beautiful woman with a gift for friendship. Her remaining family will remember this and more still; above all that, she was filled with love.
She and her husband, Richard Moses Schneer, whom she married in 1943 in Far Rockaway, N.Y., were a love match that lasted until his death in 2004.
She leaves a son, Jonathan Schneer of Decatur, Ga.; a daughter, Deborah Schneer of North Adams, and two grandsons, Benjamin Schneer of Berkeley, Calif., and Seth Schneer of Oberlin, Ohio.
FUNERAL NOTICE &mash; A memorial service for Mrs. Schneer will be held at a later date. Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals, Central Chapels, 74 Marshall St., North Adams, is in charge of arrangements.