Celebrating 50 years of love, laughter, and memories, the Schneider anniversary honors a beautiful journey together.

John and Jeniece first met on the dancefloor in the Fall of 1975 at the wedding of friends Bob and Vivian. John was the best man and Jeniece was friends with both Vivian and Bob. It took John a little while after that first meeting to ask Jeniece out, but he is sure glad he finally did! Their first date was to an Elton John concert in Denver, CO. They dated while John was attending Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO completing his civil engineering degree and Jeniece was attending the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, CO beginning her degree in accounting. John spent a lot of weekends driving to Greeley to visit Jeniece or bring her back to Fort Collins to visit there. During one of those visits to his apartment after a nice dinner, John asked Jeniece to marry him and she said yes! In 1976 John graduated from CSU. John and Jeniece were married on August 21, 1976 in Canon City, CO at St. Michaels Church, by Father Ron while surrounded by friends and family. They honeymooned with a tour of their home state Colorado camping and swimming in hot springs pools. After the honeymoon they moved into an apartment in Colorado Springs, CO.

The couple worked a myriad of jobs during this time and during their time in college. They moved to Durango, CO in March of 1977 when John got a job with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT). Jeniece transferred to Fort Lewis College in Durango and finished her accounting degree in 1981. They moved to Salida, CO in 1981 when John was promoted to Project Engineer at CDOT. Jeniece worked doing accounting and bookkeeping during this time. The couple welcomed their daughter, Jamie, in January of 1982; son, Jason, in July of 1983; and son, Jacob, in September of 1984. Baby Jacob joined heaven as an angel in November of 1984 and lives in his family’s hearts to this day.

The family moved to Alamosa, CO in 1986 after John was promoted to Resident Engineer at CDOT, later moving to nearby Monte Vista, CO in 1988 to enjoy living the country life. Jeniece started a rewarding career with the Chamber of Commerce in Monte Vista during this time. The couple spent this time happily raising kids and working. They instilled a love of camping and playing games as a family in their children. Summers and holidays were spent camping around Colorado, taking road trips to see friends and family around the US, and visiting State and National Parks. A lot of their time was spent attending their kids’ school and sport events to cheer them on. After 9 years with the Chamber of Commerce in Monte Vista, Jeniece started working for the Red Cross in 1998.

In 1999 Jeniece suffered a stroke. Too stubborn to let it get her down for long, she did the hard work to regain her speech. Admired and supported by her family she came out stronger on the other side. Jeniece left the Red Cross after this but kept herself busy continuing to do book keeping and taxes. John and Jeniece raised both kids and sent them off to college. John retired from CDOT in 2005 after 28 ½ years. They welcomed a daughter-in-law, Marta, to the family in 2010 and a son-in-law, Noah, in 2014. In 2011 John and Jeniece bought a house in the mountains in Howard, CO. John and Jeniece have spent their retirement keeping busy with rental property management and maintenance. They enjoy four wheeling, fishing, volunteering in their community, and visits family and friends. They continue to maintain a great home that their kids return to visit often to eat good food, play games, and continue building their story.