Sister Lillian Schneider SNJM

December 18, 1932 - January 30, 2022

For Sister Lillian Schneider (Alfred of Mary) sports and the loving demeanor of her junior and senior high school teachers were life-shaping and life- saving. When she died on January 30, 2022, at the St. Joseph Sisters' residence in Latham, Lillian had completed 89 years as a star in the game of life. She was born to Alfred and Lillian Castano Schneider on December 18, 1932, in Tampa, Fla. Lillian entered Sacred Heart Academy in the seventh grade and immediately distinguished herself as an honors student and natural athlete in every sport. In high school, she took great pride, along with her whole Tampa neighborhood, in being a member of the 1947 Florida State Basketball Championship Team; later she was elected the school's Most Outstanding Athlete her senior year. Lillian was also deeply impressed with her Sisters of the Holy Names teachers who seemed so happy and content with their work with their students. She followed this intuition, right after graduating from Sacred Heart Academy in 1950, to Outremont, Quebec, Canada, to enter the Holy Names novitiate. In 1952 she made vows as Sister Alfred of Mary. From her earliest teaching assignments, it was evident that Sister Alfred's approachable personality and love of sports resonated with her young charges. She became a most effective math teacher, who also could handle history, Latin, and several sciences as well. The fact that she was a "magic" coach, especially for basketball and softball, no doubt played a part in her students' openness to giving some of that algebra homework "just one more try." Sister Lillian taught in Academy of the Holy Names schools in all four of their locales: Rome, N.Y., Silver Spring, Maryland, Albany, N.Y., and Tampa. She also oversaw the boarding students in Key West and Tampa almost a parent role for girls far from family and home. And this while teaching her regular high school science and math classes. She also served in parish schools in the Maryland/ D.C. area. She was continuing her own education at the same time, completing her B.S. in 1965. Ever an eager learner, she continued into the 1990s taking a wide variety of mostly math and science courses (and was even an early leader gaining computer science expertise to complement her teaching). In the mid-1970's, Sr. Lillian returned to her Tampa home where she could assist her widowed mother. At different times over three decades, with her multiple talents, she served in the Boys Academy and Girls AHN in the classroom, as bookkeeper, and office staff. During that time, she led the work to capture the Holy Names history in South Florida, organizing 100 years of artifacts and records. Her unique networking skills and personal knowledge were essential to developing the SNJM community and school archives into the Holy Names Heritage Center on the AHN campus, dedicated in 2016. Important as education was for Sr. Lillian's sense of ministry, the first thing was presence to people. She valued the interpersonal, the unique self, of each one with whom she interacted. And they felt that regard: reflections from her first students back in the 1950's and yesterday's warm notes for this, her 70th jubilee as a Sister of the Holy Names, underscore how Sr. Lillian touched the individual. Over time, she fought several serious health issues, and by 2015 it was time for Sr. Lillian to retire and receive more assistance. In her new home at the Sisters of St. Joseph care center, Sr. Lillian radiated welcome and inclusivity. Despite near blindness and deafness, she automatically invited others to the dining room table or stopped to "visit" as she zipped around the halls. She knew that she had been blessed, and that personal relationship with her Lord shaped how she treated everyone. That little girl, who saw a special light back in her seventh grade, spent the rest of her life playing in that light wherever she went. The Sisters of the Holy Names are deeply grateful to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet and the devoted staff and friends and family up and down the East Coast who brought their light to Sr. Lillian by their support, care, and love. Her beautiful life will be celebrated on Wednesday, February 9, at the St. Josephs' Provincial House Chapel in Latham. A time of prayer and memory-sharing will be held at 10 a.m. The Mass of the Resurrection will be at 10:30 a.m., with interment to follow in Calvary Cemetery in Glenmont. Close following of COVID precautions is required for these times of shared community.