Minister of Word and Sacrament

Rev. Larry Schneider, BA Hons., B. Ed., M.Ed., M.Div.

 Rev. Larry was born and raised on a farm at the village of Wallaceville, ON, just NE of Listowel. It was an idyllic existence, a typical 1960’s farm life until he turned 10.

In 1967 his beloved maternal grandfather died, his older sister married and moved away from home, and the farm was suddenly sold. He attended a one-room schoolhouse, RR## Wallace, and then Wallace Twp P.S. He next went to Listowel Central P.S. for two years and Listowel District S.S. for five years. While there, he sang in the school choir, participated in Student Council, played guitar in a rock band with his friends. He worked part-time and summers for a painter, at Spinrite Yarns, and at Sandy’s clothing, which sold a seventies style of fashions and jeans. He worked many hours and played for profit in the bands in order to make much-needed money.

Gordon Schneider, Larry’s father, died in 1973, (fifty years ago!) from ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease, a terrible fatal illness. Larry’s hopes to become a sixth-generation German Canadian farmer were dashed. Larry’s wonderful mother Violet worked at the Campbell’s Soup plant in Listowel.

Thanks to student loans and grants, Larry attended Queen’s University in Kingston, ON, for five years, studying English, Sociology, and Education, then moved with Gwen to Chapleau in Northern Ontario to teach English, where they lived for five years.

Gwen and Larry were married in 1979, and have three now-adult children, and at present, five quite young and energetic grandchildren. They have lived in Rodney since 1984, when they moved so that Larry could accept a position teaching English at West Elgin Secondary School. He worked at WESS for many years, including stints at the Elgin County Board Office, and as VP at Central Elgin CI in St. Thomas. He became Principal of WESS in 2001 and retired as Principal of South CI in London in June 2011. He filled in as Principal at WESS in the springs of 2012 and 2013, when his studies in Toronto broke for the summer.

Larry studied theology and ministry full-time at Emmanuel College at the UofToronto from his retirement until 2015, when he was ordained, and took a position as full-time minister at Dorchester UC. While in Toronto Larry rented a basement apartment from a wonderful UC family.

Larry had a serious car accident (black ice and a huge pine tree) in 1996, a growth in his brain in 2017, and stage four liver disease, resulting in serious, mind and body-damaging damage, and had a full liver transplant in February 2019. The love of his family, his faith, the prayers of thousands of people, and the skill of a fabulous medical team at University Hospital (and others), plus a selfless liver donor and his/her family got him through this ordeal!

From September 2017 to April 2023 Rev. Schneider was on Long-Term Disability, deemed too cognitively and otherwise damaged to ever work again. But, he was too stubborn, and worked too hard at rehabilitating himself, to accept this judgement.

Larry became the half-time minister at Dunwich UC in April 2023, and feels truly blessed by God and warmly welcomed by his new faith family.

Rev Schneider sings in choirs, most recently Voiceprints in Glencoe, occasionally acts on stage, reads avidly, writes regular columns for the West Elgin Chronicle and on-line, and is the Past-President of the Kiwanis Club of Rodney. He is the Vice-Chair of the WECHC board, and chaplain for the West Elgin Br. 221 Royal Canadian Legion. He is most pleased that his brain and body allow for his participation all of the above, which have all served as a ‘test’ of his rebuilt abilities.