Ruth Ann Schneider (simply known as “Granny” by many) was born April 30, 1930 in Cedar Falls, lowa.
She was middle of three children; one brother younger and one brother older. She attended elementary and high school in Waterloo, lowa. She went to Cedar Falls College and earned a Bachelor’s degree in education. After graduation she taught in the rural lowa public school system for two years. She then taught at Wasatch Academy in Utah, a Presbyterian boarding school, for five years. It was there that she met her husband-to-be who happened on campus for a job interview in 1957. He didn’t take the job as he had to enter military service under the Reserve Forces Act of 1955 but they continued meeting. Ruth married him on August 23, 1958. The marriage was to last for more than 41 years until her death parted them.
She was the biological mother of two children, Debra born in 1960 and Mark born in 1961; and the adopted mother of three: Daniel, Gary, and David.
She followed her husband to graduate school in Tallahasee, Florida and worked to help him earn his Master of Social Work degree. She then followed him to various positions in Wisconsin, Kentucky, Michigan, Alaska and finally to Oregon. She supervised and later directed institution and school meal programs, taught at the elementary and intermediate levels, and provided a loving and nurturing home for five children and many “strays”. She was co-founder of the first family non-profit organization and later served as President of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Global Education for nearly ten years.
She went to the birth of a granddaughter in Costa Rica and stayed five years until Joanna started school.
In 1994 she turned 62, and began receiving social security. She decided she wanted a “project” using her social security, her background and considerable experience.
Her husband did some scouting in India where there is a serious lack of educational facilities in the rural areas. Together they founded Mucherla Global School in south central India, 210 kilometers east of Hyderabad. She became the Executive Director, teacher trainer, and curriculum developer. She spent at least six months a year in residence at the school for six years. She started with 40 children and by 2000 the student body had grown to 130. She started with illiterate children and five years later started the high school with children who had made much progress.
She received Radio for Peace International’s highest award, World Citizens Humanitarian, in 1996.
She returned to Oregon from India in October 1999 and flew to Moscow, Russia to deliver an address to an international education conference. She returned to Oregon and flew on to Costa Rica in November 1999. It was to be her last trip. Ruth died, unexpectedly for the rest of the world and even her family, but known to her, on January 3, 2000 in Costa Rica. Six memorial services; in Costa Rica, New York, Oregon and three in India, honored her memory and work.
On January 3, 2010, a permanent memorial was dedicated in Mucherla, India.
