Schneider, Nickolaus Ancestry: Fifth Generation: Viola Schneider

Diane Young Sorensen wrote to say "Also, my dad was wrong. Viola's middle name was Mary, not Marie." See note on the picture page. (this corretion published 12/9/2021 - JJS)

1/7/2005 Diane Young Sorensen sent these images concerning her grandmother, Viola.

On 11/13/2004 Diane Young Sorensen shared the following information concerning her grandmother, Viola. Thank you for your remembrance!

"I was very pleasently surprised to get a hit when I searched on my grandmother's name. She is my father's mother. I can fill in a few blanks. Most of my pictures are in storage because we are living in a rental house while our new house is being built, but I did keep a little family history book out that my dad put together. Her parents, Peter and Clara (Hackett) -- or maybe it was more generally "the Schneider family" --owned the land at one time that later became the River Rouge plant of the Ford Motor Company.

"Her full name was Viola Maria Schneider. She taught school before her marriage and again after Walter died. I remember her telling me she would rip up old bed sheets and tie the unruly kids in their chairs. As a younger woman she saved the hair from her hairbrush and made some kind of curls or bun with it. Anyway, she pinned it on her head. It was a popular thing to do, and the hairpiece was called a "transformation". Her hair turned pure white when her children were still young. One of her favorite expressions was, "Well, isn't that grand." She was always very refined and "pulled together," and I never ever saw her in slacks or pants. I have two sisters, and every Christmas she and Grandpa Haner would send us dolls with extra clothes she made. Some presents came from JL Hudson [a landmark Detroit department store], a favorite store of hers. Grandma and Grandpa eventually moved to Glendale, California. He died there in 1969 at the age of 79. She died in Temple City, CA at the age of 97, but I don't know the year.

"She married Walter Frederick Young (b. 1/30/1891 - d. 12/24/1926) on June 26, 1918 in Detroit, Michigan. Walter was born in Rock Island. He attended Rock Island High School and graduated in 1910. I have his gold high school ring. He attended Stanford University, and was an architect and real estate agent in the Detroit area. He died on Christmas Eve. He caught a cold from a trip to Lansing, Michigan in an open automobile, and developed pneumonia. They had three children:

Walter Frederick Young, b. 7/4/1919 - d. 2/14/1994 (my father), married Doris Anna Gagne (b. August 12, 1917, in Ottawa, Canada) on September 6, 1941. Walter and Doris had 3 children

Diane Marie Young, b. 3/6/1943
child

Constance Ann, b. 4/9/1944
child

Christine Mary, b. 4/9/1944, d. 5/17/1971 (blood clot)
child

Walter Frederick Young III, b. 8/10/1955

Robert Young b. ??/1921 - d. 3/8/1926
child

Richard Edwin Young b. 8/1/1923 He is still living.

She married Frederick Leo Haner on May 1, 1928. He was a widower with a daughter.

Then, on 12/7/2004 Chris Balteff wrote upon seeing Diane's recollection above. Here is his recollection of Viola:

Diane,

I am Chris Balteff
My Great Grandmother was Hilda (Schneider) Golata
Grandson of Shirley Golata
My mom is Judy (Cary) Balteff

Thanks for the great stuff on Aunt Viola! When I came to California in 1980 as a 19 year old Michigander, I visited your grandmother about four times in Glendale, in her apartment. We had become pen pals, oh my, when I was 10 maybe 12? Maybe my fascination with California? The things I remember most about Aunt Viola, is that she would take me to church across the street, for she'd always ask me when I had last gone and I would tell her the last time she took me......She'd say, maybe God would give her a gold star for taking me! They were terrific times! I took her to McDonalds once, what an experience...and we had a marvelous time....if you can imagine, a 19 year old with hair down past his shoulders and Aunt Viola on my arm, something to behold....!