Nyack High School Class of '55

Dr. Sanford Schneider
Died April 20, 2021

A loving tribute from Sandy's wife Joan:

Dr. Sanford Schneider passed away April 20, peacefully at home. Sonny (Sandy) graduated from Nyack High School in the class of 1955. He graduated from the University of Rochester in 1959 and went on to medical school at NYU-Bellevue where he graduated in the class of 1963. He took a Pediatric internship at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, NC and then returned to New York City for a residency in Pediatrics at Babies Hospital, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. He was called up by the U.S. Air Force and was stationed, as a Captain at March AFB in California (1966-1968), where he served as a Pediatrician at the base hospital. He returned to New York City after his time in the Air Force to take a fellowship in Child Neurology at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

Sandy and I, along with our family, returned to California where he founded the Child Neurology service at Loma Linda University Medical Center, where he remained for nearly 30 years, eventually becoming a full Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics. The University of Oklahoma induced him to come to its Medical Center as an endowed Professor and as Chairman of Neurology at that medical center.

Returning to Riverside, California, supposedly in partial retirement, he first joined a private practice (Molina Health Care) and then became associated with the University of California, Irvine Medical Center and served as a Child Neurologist at Children's Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) where he continued to train many Fellows in Child Neurology. He also founded a Child Neurology Clinic at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Rialto, San Bernardino County, near his home in Riverside. He fully retired in February, 2020 due to increasing health problems.

Sandy had a very distinguished career in academic medicine, and he was an author of many articles in professional journals, as well as chapters in medical texts. He loved his work.

His recreational time was spent flyfishing, a skill he learned when he was a child, from his beloved Uncle Eddie in Worchester, Massachusetts. Sandy belonged to the Deep Creek Flyfishers Club in Riverside and was recently elected as its president. His interests included reading mystery novels (at least one per week), being the family "handyman," worldwide traveling (even venturing to Mongolia and Africa in recent years), and enjoying his family. The family has also spent time at their vacation homes in Dana Point and Borrego Springs, California.

He will be sorely missed by me, his family, colleagues, and fishing friends. In addition, he leaves three children: Lisa Everson (Dicken); Paul (Melaine); and Marc (Charito), as well as five grandchildren: Alexander, Clementine, Elon, Max, and Andrew. Sandy always told stories about his growing up in Nyack and his triumphs in his Cedar Hill Avenue neighborhood. Of course, they were all triumphs - even pedaling his bicycle up Cedar Hill Avenue!

Should any of his classmates wish to make donations in Sandy's memory, please consider Hospital Albert Schweitzer, Haiti (web page: https://hashaiti.org/take-action/ways-to-give/donate/). The Schneider family spent time volunteering at this remote hospital on several occasions over the years.

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