Obituary for Judith Sara Schneider
Judith Sara (Jodi) Schneider residing in New York City died at 12:30 PM on Thursday, July 30, 2020 from complications following surgery. She was 84 years old. She is predeceased by her brother, Robert Oliver. She is survived by her two daughters Janice Marion Schneider and Lisa Marie Schneider, her nephew Clifford Oliver, grandniece Simone Oliver and countless friends and loved ones.
She was born on October 13, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York, to Max and Helen Oliver, and grew up in Flatbush. She completed her Bachelor of Education at the University of Miami in Florida. Through a good friend, she met Kenny Schneider, they eventually married and were married for almost 20 years. The family moved to New York City in the early 1960s. Around 1969, at a time when very few lived in the Garment District, they created a home in a commercial loft in Chelsea, upstairs from studios housing Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Jennifer Muller/The Works dance company, and other artists and musicians. In the loft they raised the girls, she completed her studies with the New York Society for Bioenergetic Analysis and became a licensed therapist, established her psychotherapy practice, and lived for the next fifty years until the end of her life.
She devoted her life to helping others. Jodi was a teacher and mentor to many. Jodi’s joy and love of life drew her into many circles of people. This included her medical issues later in life in which she found another opportunity to connect with others dealing with the same challenges, moving from mentee to mentor and teacher in short order. If you were a person who needed help Jodi was there to listen and counsel.
She was athletic, fearless, and curious. She read widely - everything from Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory to the poetry of Mary Oliver. She loved popular movies and TV shows, especially Star Trek, serial crime shows and the Voice. She was devoted to neighborhood diner food. Excellent Dumpling, Shake Shack and Dallas BBQ were also favs. If you saw her walking in the neighborhood you would notice her amazingly beautiful long hair, still largely black into her senior years – something she attributed to her Russian genes.
Jodi loved to dance – from trips to Cuba “before the revolution” from Miami to salsa, to later seeing modern dance performances of all kind. She enjoyed art, especially pieces tied to nature, including abstract landscape paintings, the works of Andy Goldsworthy and walks at Storm King. If it was “art” she wanted to experience it.
Jodi (a Libra) was a spiritual person who understood her life through astrology and Buddhist teaching. She practiced yoga (later chair yoga over Zoom) and meditation.
She loved the gardens and green spaces of New York. Even in the time of COVID she would go the park near the Flatiron Building. She sent her daughters, who she loved very much, pictures of flowers from her walk almost daily. Later in life she enjoyed spending the summer months in the cool of the Catskills where she could swim in a clear, calm lake every day. She was loyal to her friends, and she was loved by all she knew.
Jodi set an example in enduring learning about living life positively. Paramount to her was kindness to others. Please be kind to one another.
The family will hold a private service at Redden’s Funeral Home in New York City, with additional arrangements for family and friends to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Colostomy Society of New York c/o Ms. Gail Jasne, P.O. Box 187, Gedney Station, White Plains, NY 10605; or Friends of Ostomates Worldwide-USA (fowusa.org); 4018 Bishop Lane, Louisville, Kentucky 40218; or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).
She was born on October 13, 1935 in Brooklyn, New York, to Max and Helen Oliver, and grew up in Flatbush. She completed her Bachelor of Education at the University of Miami in Florida. Through a good friend, she met Kenny Schneider, they eventually married and were married for almost 20 years. The family moved to New York City in the early 1960s. Around 1969, at a time when very few lived in the Garment District, they created a home in a commercial loft in Chelsea, upstairs from studios housing Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Jennifer Muller/The Works dance company, and other artists and musicians. In the loft they raised the girls, she completed her studies with the New York Society for Bioenergetic Analysis and became a licensed therapist, established her psychotherapy practice, and lived for the next fifty years until the end of her life.
She devoted her life to helping others. Jodi was a teacher and mentor to many. Jodi’s joy and love of life drew her into many circles of people. This included her medical issues later in life in which she found another opportunity to connect with others dealing with the same challenges, moving from mentee to mentor and teacher in short order. If you were a person who needed help Jodi was there to listen and counsel.
She was athletic, fearless, and curious. She read widely - everything from Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory to the poetry of Mary Oliver. She loved popular movies and TV shows, especially Star Trek, serial crime shows and the Voice. She was devoted to neighborhood diner food. Excellent Dumpling, Shake Shack and Dallas BBQ were also favs. If you saw her walking in the neighborhood you would notice her amazingly beautiful long hair, still largely black into her senior years – something she attributed to her Russian genes.
Jodi loved to dance – from trips to Cuba “before the revolution” from Miami to salsa, to later seeing modern dance performances of all kind. She enjoyed art, especially pieces tied to nature, including abstract landscape paintings, the works of Andy Goldsworthy and walks at Storm King. If it was “art” she wanted to experience it.
Jodi (a Libra) was a spiritual person who understood her life through astrology and Buddhist teaching. She practiced yoga (later chair yoga over Zoom) and meditation.
She loved the gardens and green spaces of New York. Even in the time of COVID she would go the park near the Flatiron Building. She sent her daughters, who she loved very much, pictures of flowers from her walk almost daily. Later in life she enjoyed spending the summer months in the cool of the Catskills where she could swim in a clear, calm lake every day. She was loyal to her friends, and she was loved by all she knew.
Jodi set an example in enduring learning about living life positively. Paramount to her was kindness to others. Please be kind to one another.
The family will hold a private service at Redden’s Funeral Home in New York City, with additional arrangements for family and friends to follow. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to the Colostomy Society of New York c/o Ms. Gail Jasne, P.O. Box 187, Gedney Station, White Plains, NY 10605; or Friends of Ostomates Worldwide-USA (fowusa.org); 4018 Bishop Lane, Louisville, Kentucky 40218; or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (stjude.org).