Former Bethesda-Chevy Chase Students Recall Biology Teacher’s Kindness, Dapper Style – BethesdaMagazine.com

Friend said Ed Schneck coached, acted in plays and was an overall Renaissance guy

By Bethany Rodgers

Published: 2017.05.01 09:33

Graduates of Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School recently remembered former biology teacher Ed Schneck, who died in April.

Via Harriet Haber

Longtime biology teacher Ed Schneck enjoyed his retirement party so much, he decided to stick around for one more year.

Steve Thompson, a friend and one-time colleague at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, said Schneck decided to teach one final year. And his farewell bonanza turned into an annual event, known as the Schneck Retirement Golf Classic, which was held long after he left his job.

The story was just one example of the larger-than-life personality that endeared Schneck to those who knew him and helped explain the outpouring at the former teachers death last month at age 81.

He was a mainstay there at the high school, said Harriet Haber, a B-CC graduate from the class of 1979 who estimated Schneck worked at the school for more than three decades.

Though its been years since Schneck taught at B-CC, dozens expressed grief and shared memories on a Facebook memorial page for high school alumni. Schneck stood out for his dapper outfits, kindness and general zest for life, his former students said.

One person said he remembered Schneck eating a hamburger and french fries and drinking a carton of chocolate milk each day. Another high school graduate, Kathie Rosacker, said she remembers him as a snappy dresser who wore three-piece, pinstripe suits to class.

Students tended to gravitate to Schneck because of his patience and the way he encouraged them to succeed, Haber and Rosacker added. In addition to teaching biology class, Schneck instructed students in horticulture, and his classroom was adjacent to the schools greenhouse, they said.

He also coached golf and baseball and took part in a few school plays over the years, once acting as a military general in a production of South Pacific, Haber said.

Thompson described him as a Renaissance guy.

He recalls Schnecks fondness for piano bars and said his friend especially loved to belt out the song Delilah by English singer Tom Jones.

A lot of people in Montgomery County throughout the years probably had seen Ed Schneck do Delilah at a piano bar, Thompson chuckles.

After they retired, both men moved to Florida and remained good friends. Thompson said Schneck spent his last decade enjoying life with his girlfriend, whom he married just weeks before his death.

And even though he lived many miles away, Schneck kept a link with his former school; Haber said he sent her a picture of himself wearing a B-CC sweatshirt a few years ago when the school made the basketball finals.

Ed was a great teacher and a wonderful coach. But he was just a fabulous friend, Thompson said. Its hard for me to believe that hes gone.

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Former Bethesda-Chevy Chase Students Recall Biology Teacher's Kindness, Dapper Style - BethesdaMagazine.com