UCityClass1957

Steven Schneider was my first cousin (our fathers were brothers) who lived on the first floor of a duplex at 7269 Dartmouth;
my family lived on the second floor. Phil Bassin lived east of me on the same and so did Jerry Sandmel. Stephen Smith and
Herbie Singer also lived on Dartmouth but west closer to Jackson Park Grade school. Steve Schneider graduated in
engineering from Purdue University and later opened his own business and was very successful. He had three boys one of
whom became a physician. Unfortunately, he suffered from severe depression and committed suicide. He was a very bright
student at University City, played on the golf team and was a very quiet and nice fellow. I still miss him to this day and
cannot understand why he took his life when he had so much going for him. (Submitted by Robert Schneider)

My cousin, Steve Schneider, was on medication for depression, The doctor said a chemical imbalance caused his
depression. The doctor took him off his meds in order to change them and wanted to put him into the hospital but Steve
refused. It's too bad they did not make him go in the hospital because the reaction to getting off the drugs while waiting
to change is what caused him to kill himself. He was doing fine until then. He had his own business and I think he was an
electrician like his dad. His business was successful and money was not a problem. He had no reason to be depressed
except for the chemical imbalance which the meds treated but the doctor decided to change them for whatever reason
and took him off those drugs which I believe now was a very big mistake. He had a wonderful family and great children
and it is so sad that had to

happen to him. It was a medical thing as he had no reason since he had 3 sons and a wife and a good business. One
day after work, (and this makes me sad to remember even though it was a very long time ago), he drove from work to a
bridge in St. Louis area and jumped off and had left a note in the car. They did not find his body for several weeks and
it was such a sad time for the family, especially his wife and kids and his mom who was my mom's sister and my aunt.
(submitted by Brenda Lieber)

More on Steve Schneider: Steve was one of my best friends. We went to
Purdue, were in the same great fraternity for 4 years, and I fixed him
up with Eileen Rosen ( U. City '60), his wife of 25 years. In the summer of 59' we double dated almost the entire summer. Eileen and
Steve had a great marriage and 3 wonderful sons; Michael, an anesthesiologist in Irvine, CA, David into computers here in St. Louis,
and Todd with degrees from Stanford & Georgetown Law now a Dept. of Justice civil rights lawyer and one son. Steve went from
McDonnell to air balancing and soon had his own company that was doing great. He had a contract to balance the air in the Arch
and had one on credible picture where he was standing on the very top outside! He traveled over Illinois and Missouri doing
commercial jobs and was expanding his business. Brenda and Bob have mentioned Steve's suicide and how painful it was to them,
and I certainly have to add my name to theirs. I only want to mention one difficult part, which was that Steve had one flaw in the
Greek tragedy sense and it wasn't that he had severe depression. It was that he couldn't tell anyone except Eileen and one other
person about his illness. Depression is just too big a problem to handle without the support of one's entire family and circle of
friends. I know since my late wife Estelle had severe depression also. I'll always wonder if I had known if I could have done
something to prevent the terrible outcome. (Submitted by Stan Roodman)