Katherine's mother Dorothy (Dorothea)-- emigrated from Russia, (according to Katherine's birth certificate) with her then husband (last name Regensky) and with their daughter "Regina".  Mr. Regensky died on the ship, and Dorothy and Regina continued on, to live in Fulda, Saskatchewan.

 

Regina was born in Russia on April 17, 1897 and married Alex Merkowsky, and raised their family in Humboldt and Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.  She passed away on January 29, 1985 at 87 years of age.

 

Dorothy married Peter Schneider, who emigrated to Fulda at about the same time (1897 - 1908) from Luxembourg, where they spoke French.  Peter was an orphan, and was raised by a doctor, until he came to Canada.  They had 2 children -- Joseph and Katrina Helena (Katherine).  Katherine was born at Fulda, on January 10, 1908 and died in Humboldt, Saskatchewan at age 88 on February 29, 1996.   Joseph was born in Fulda, on September 26, 1909, and died single, at the age of 39 on July 19, 1949, in North Battleford, Saskatchewan.

 

Dorothy, who was born on September 14, 1869, passed away on January 9, 1917 at age 48, when Katherine was only 9 years old.

 

Peter Schneider then married Mary Beckman, who already had 6 children -- Ben, Frank, Peter, Helen, Mary and Anna.  Mary Beckman's daughter Mary married Jake Stolz, and had 3 children.  They lived on a farm near Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

 

Peter Schneider and Mary Beckman had two children -- Clara and Herman. Herman was an Army Officer, during World War 11, and now lives retired at #903, 70 Park St. E., Mississauga, Ontario L5G 1M5.  Clara married William (Bill) Garden, a sheet metal specialist.  They now live at 221 - 2 Mistywood Dr., Stoney Creek, Ontario, L8J 1P9. 

 

Herman Schneider told me the following about his father's (Peter's) last days, -- "According to my mother, your grandfather, Peter, developed glaucoma just before he died.  It is glaucoma that will blind you, and not necessarily cataracts, and according to mother he suffered terribly and finally went blind just before he passed away. 

 

That is why I've already warned you, that since glaucoma is so highly hereditory you must warn everyone in your family to be highly aware of this.  In my case when I developed glaucoma, the surgeon saved my sight by operating with a lazer gun which leaves no bleeding.  If I had developed this condition only about eight years before I did, and before the lazer method was developed, I would have gone blind, since operating with a scalpel which they used then, always left a lot of bleeding which alone, also blinded you and if not totally, it was always still enough to make you legally blind".

 

Shortly after that Peter passed away on July 29, 1922 and Mary Beckman married another Mr. Franz Schneider in Vancouver, B.C., as a catalogue bride.  This Mr. Schneider who was no relation to Peter, apparently was a very religous Lutheran.  They did not have any children, and it is unknown whether this Mr. Schneider had any of his own before they got married.  He was a sailor, blacksmith, and prospected for gold in the Klondyke Gold Rush.  He had a hobby of carving wooden shoes.

 

Being that Peter Schneider was the father to Joseph, Katherine, Clara and Herman -- this makes Peter the Grandfather of the children of Katherine, Clara and Herman -- Joseph did not have any children.

 

There has been a considerable amount of confusion about Peter Schneider's date of birth.  We have all agreed that his date of birth, given on his "Certificate of Death" to be the most accurate.  On the Certificate of Death, his birth date is recorded as August 17, 1866, but on his "tombstone" it is 1869.  We have concluded that the tombstone carver made the error of putting on the incorrect date on Peter Schneider's tombstone.  Instead of 1866 he put 1869.  See the tombstone photo, at the very top of this Schneider web page, to see the error. 

 

Katherine was just 9 years old when her mother (Dorothy) passed away, and apparently she did not get along with her step-mother Mary Beckman.  As a result, at the age of 14, she left home, and went to work at the St. Elizabeth Hospital in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

 

She married Bernard Hinz on October 25, 1927.  Bernard passed away on December 7, 1934.  They had 3 children -- Arthur, born on August 12, 1928, - Herbert, born on October 11, 1930, and Myrtle (adopted), born on March 23, 1933.

 

On September 29, 1936, Katherine married Joseph Pokolm.  They had 4 children.  Joseph (Joey) born on June 16, 1937, Doreen born on March 9, 1940, Dolores born on March 30, 1943, and Darlene born on February 22, 1949.

 

Katherine passed away at age 88 on February 29, 1996 from a stroke.  She had been suffering from Alzheimers disease.  At the time of her death, she had 32 grandchildren, and 40 great-grandchildren.

 

 

At the time of this writing in October, 2002 -- Clara was about 84 years old, and Herman about 82.  Both are in good health.  Clara is in the process of writing her biography, about her younger years on the homestead, and Herman is working on a family tree, when he is not sailing in his boat around the Great Lakes of Southern Ontario, and the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Neighbours.  I did not even know that Aunt Clara and Uncle Herman existed until only a few years ago, in 1997, when both Clara and Herman visited in the Humboldt and Fulda, Saskatchewan areas.  They visited our farm neighbour (Monica Washkosky), who in her childhood, used to be their neighbour.  She in turn asked my sister Myrtle to come and see them.  Myrtle in turn told me all about what she heard and learned about them, and also passed onto me Herman's e-mail address.  By e-mail, I got in touch with Uncle Herman, and ever since we have had a continous exchange of family history.  I am now also in touch with Aunt Clara, via the regular (slow mail), as she does not have a computer.

 

Clara and Herman were half sister and brother to my mother Katherine Pokolm (nee Schneider). This in turn makes Clara and Herman as my half Aunt and half Uncle,  but I only address them as Aunt and Uncle -- the very same way that I regarded my sister Myrtle.  She was adopted, but to me and the rest of the family, she was a full sister.

 

 

As a child, Herman grew up in Leofeld, Saskatchewan, where they were neighbours to the Lange family. (see Monica Washkowsky- 2 paragraphs above).  Monica Lange married Raymond Washkowsky of Muenster, and Monica's sister Margaret married my brother Arthur.

 

As a young man, he joined the Army during the World War 11 and volunteered for any assignment, and the more dangerous the better.  Through this he ended up in the Intelligence Core, and was sent behind the Iron Curtain doing spy work.  Before it was all over, he was commissioned as an officer in the Army -- Captain Herman Schneider.

 

Following his term in the armed forces, he was a proprietor of several businesses, and now in his retirement, he is an active bridge player, yachtsman and spends a lot of time with his computer.

 

And now, as if this was not enough he has joined a group that is fighting the Federal Government over the government's confiscation of over 12 billion dollars from the Armed Forces pension fund, and another 18 billion from the Civil Service pension fund.  It is obvious how the Chretien Liberal Government produced a "surplus" in their budget.

 

It is said that "the word is mightier than the sword".  Well, Herman has put the use of the word to it's fullest test against the Federal Government -- through Herman's constant writing of e-mails to the Prime Minister and many Federal Ministers of Parliament -- criticizing the government's confiscation of the Armed Forces and the Civil Service pension funds.  He also criticized the Feds for the waist of Billions of dollars on the "French Bilingualism" of Canada.  It was no wonder the Feds had no money for Health Care.

 

Uncle Herman has been sending these e-mails to the Feds for as long as I've known him, and apparently, someone has heard his message, because someone has recommended that Herman Schneider be given a Commemorative Medal in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabth 11's Golden Jubille Celebrations in Canada in 2002.

 

Uncle Herman sent me an e-mail on October 20, 2002 saying that "it has just been confirmed that yours truly has been awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal.  The ceremony will be held in London, Ontario in the near future.  Why?  I have really no idea". 

 

He felt proud to be awarded the medal, because he wrote"please tell me that I am not dreaming and will soon wake up, because that is how I feel at present".

 

I will be watching for new developments on this front.  I am also considerating as to whether I should include one of his e-mails to the Feds.

 

I got permission from Uncle Herman, to publish his most recent e-mail on November 6, 2002 to the Feds.  Following is that e-mail.

 

 

 

Herman married a woman named Dolores, who has since passed away.  They had one son John, and adopted another called James -- who is a confirmed bachelor. 

 

Their son John had two sons named Mark and Mathew.  His wife left him and took the two sons with her, and then remarried.  They changed the sons' surnames to O'Brien.

 

Being that Uncle Herman was the last male in the Schneider name -- this name change meant the end of this Schneider name.  Herman was very proud of his name, and one can imagine how he felt about that.

 

Another of his accomplishments apparently is that he tells jokes also.

 

 

Clara married William (Bill) Garden, and they lived in the Hamilton, Owen Sound and Stoney Creek, Ontario areas.  Bill was a licensed sheet metal worker -- until he retired in 1984.  Their final move was to Stoney Creek, Ontario.

 

They had 3 children -- Harvey, Lynda, and Karon, all born in Hamilton, Ontario.  Karon lives a few blocks from Aunt Clara, Lynda is in Mississauga (Toronto) -- near where Uncle Herman lives, and Harvey lives in Binbrook -- a 15 minute drive from Clara"s.

 

Clara's husband Bill, passed away in June, 1997 from a stroke and complications. 

 

Clara has no problem keeping occupied, even though she is 84 (2002).  Her family lives nearby, and she has numerous friends in the complex where she lives.  She is also secretary of the seniours society in the complex.

 

She has been in the process of writing her biography for several years now, and she should be getting close to the end.  I am anxiously waiting to read it.

 

Uncle Herman is proud of being awarded the Queen Elizabeth 11's Golden Jubille Award, even though approximately, forty-six thousand medals will be distributed, by various organizations -- representing all regions of Canada.  His awarding ceremony will be held in London, Ontario in the near future, probably in November, 2002.

 

The program is an opportunity to recognize citizens for an outstanding and exemplary achievement or service to the community or to Canada as a whole; or those who have made a sustained contribution over and above what might reasonably be expected of paid employment or voluntary action.  In keeping with the Golden Jubilee spirit endorsed by the Queen, awarding of the medal will be inclusive and wide-ranging.

 

Uncle Herman let the Federal Government know and understand that a person does not necessarily have to be a member of government or the opposition, by continually writing e-mails to them -- criticizing their waste of billions of dollars, especially on Bilingualism.  Money or even a portion of it, that could have been better spent on Medicare.  He proudly fought for Canada in World War 11, reaching the rank of a Captain.

 

Herman Schneider, told me that he wishes that all of us will appreciate that he considers this award, an honour for our family as a whole, dating all the way back to his father, Peter Schneider -- who is also my grandfather.  He also said, "That would make me feel that this is an honour completely fulfilled".

 

Every one of his e-mails to the politicians, were signed off with:

 

Oh Canada How We Cry And Pray For Thee

Capt Herman J. Schneider, CD, Retired.

 

Well, it certainly looks like it does -- especially when it concerns Herman Schneider (as above).

 

On October 20, 2002, Uncle Herman received a letter, telling him that he was being awarded a medal from the Government of Canada, and the Queen of England.  He was awarded the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal.  At the time he had no idea why.

 

Almost a month later, on November 9, 2002 he received a letter from the Royal Netherlands Embassy stationed in Ottawa.that he was being awarded a medal (a Thank You Canada 1945 medal) for his contribution to the liberation of Holland.  See below, a letter similiar to what he received.

 

I think Uncle Herman was thinking that I was never, ever going to believe this second medal -- because he assured me that it was "legitimate".

 

I congratulated him, for receiving this recognition of merit.