Benjamin David Schneider

Nov 24, 1979 -

Apr 11, 2020

Benjamin David Schneider, born Nov. 24, 1979, in Fort Ord, Calif., passed away on April 11, 2020, in Anchorage, Alaska, at 40 years of age. He spent the early years of his life in Hawaii, Guam and Virginia before moving to Boise, Idaho, where he went to high school at Bishop Kelly High. He pursued a degree in education at Montana State University, doing his student teaching in New Zealand before returning back to the Pacific Northwest to marry his high school sweetheart Nicole Pressman on a snowy New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 2003. They moved to Pullman, Wash., and then Seattle, Wash., where he taught, was active in the ultimate Frisbee communities and pursued a myriad of outdoor pursuits.

He moved with his family to Eagle River/Chugiak, Alaska, in 2008, where he wore a number of hats: extremely active stay-at-home-dad, hiking group leader, woodworker and puzzle builder, dog musher, backcountry telemark skier, fly fisherman, fat-tire biker, river rafter, volunteer - especially at the Eagle River Nature Center and the Mirror Lake Singletrack trails - backpacker and coach, including youth Nordic skiing and mountain biking. He found joy in the outdoors and the people around him, particularly when he could introduce people to his passions. He loved to haul kids - both his own and everyone else's - outside for any and every activity possible. He enthusiastically pursued teaching at Fire Lake Preschool and then as an elementary PE teacher, working at Trailside, Birchwood ABC and Muldoon Elementary schools. He loved a good story, which is something many of his own adventures created.

He is survived by his parents, Mark and Meg Schneider; his siblings, Aaron Schneider and Beth Schneider-Coulter; his wife, Nicole Pressman-Schneider; his children, Kaya and Leo Schneider; his grandparents, Leo and Betty Schneider; as well as numerous aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.

A Celebration of Life for Ben is currently being deferred until those he loved are able to gather together, pending COVID-19 directives, likely July in Boise, Idaho, and June in Eagle River. Future details will be found on his Caring Bridge website: https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/benschneiderak.

A memorial fund is set up in Ben's honor in lieu of flowers - this fund will be directed to one of Ben's central goals: getting kids outside, especially kids who would otherwise have difficulty doing so. It has been set up through the United Methodist Church of Chugiak, under the "Ben Schneider Memorial Fund" at http://umcchugiak.org/giving/.