Eric Schneider never lived in Colonie but his tragic story has touched the lives of so many in the town that they will soon plant a maple tree in his honor in the Crossings of Colonie Park.
Schneider was born with hydroplastic left heart syndrome, a condition in which the left ventricle of the heart has not developed completely. He lived in Melbourne, Fla., where he would travel to Jacksonville for regular surgeries at Wolfson’s Children Hospital.
He died on the operating table on July 20. He was five years old.
“He was a wonderful little boy who just lived life to the fullest,” said Kimmarie Victoria, a resident of Colonie and Schneider’s aunt. “Every day was an adventure with him.”
Victoria said she would always tell stories and bring pictures to her coworkers at the New York State Department of Safety’s Division of Criminal Justice Services. Many of them were moved by his story and fell in love with the little guy without ever meeting him.
“He had touched hundreds of lives,” she said. “Whether it was the therapist or his teacher in pre-school or just people at any of the social events he was at… His story inspired people in my office and they all kept track of him.”
She and her coworkers decided to donate a tree to the Crossings by working with Rich Miller in Troy who will help with the donation. Cindy Neff, one of Victoria’s coworkers, said it feels good to do something for the family in New York. She added they have also made a donation to the Ronald McDonald house, which Victoria said has helped her sister, Joanne Schneider, cope with Eric’s surgery schedule.
Neff said she was always interested in the stories Victoria told of Schneider at work and how she always had pictures of him hanging up around her desk.
“We’re doing it because he’s such a special little boy that touched the lives of many people,” she said.
Schneider was actually born as a foster child when Florida had declared his mother incapable of being able to take care of him. Joanne started acting as a foster parent to him in 1985. She had already been the caretaker of 32 foster children before taking in Schneider when he was 7 months old. Both Joanne and her husband Eckart never planned on adopting a child since they already had four children, two of Eckart’s and two of their own, but when they first met Schneider, they knew there was something special about him.
“As he survived his heart surgeries, we didn’t want anyone else to raise him. We wanted to keep him,” Joanne said. “He was amazing. He was the happiest and smiliest kid ever. You would never know anything is wrong with him.”
Everyone he met fell in love with him, Joanne said. He made such an impact on the nurses and staff at Wolfson’s Children Hospital that even though there was a memorial service held in Jacksonville specifically for them, many of the nurses traveled 3 hours to the memorial service in Melbourne to pay their respects.
Creating a memorial in Colonie will be cathartic for both Victoria and her daughter Emily. Emily had spent several summers with Joanne in Florida where she babysat Schneider. She even took care of Schneider for eight weeks when Joanne had to have foot surgery.
“He had touched hundreds of lives,” she said. “Whether it was the therapist or his teacher in pre-school or just people at any of the social events he was at… His story inspired people in my office and they all kept track of him.”
Emily, a senior in high school, has dreams of being a pediatrician, Victoria said. She was even in the ICU when he passed away and began cleaning him up and dressing him in his pajamas after he expired.
“The doctor there asked her if she still wanted to be a pediatrician,” Victoria said. “She said, ‘Yes, I do. Eric is the reason why.’”
Joanne is touched by the fact there will now be a memorial for her son in the town where she had grown up. She can’t believe that a boy who was to turn 6 years old on October 4 had the ability to touch so many lives during his short time on earth.
It is even more special the manner in which Victoria and her coworkers are honoring him by planting a tree. One of Joanne’s fondest memories of Eric was seeing him and Eckart hanging out at the giant tree in their backyard where only the boys were allowed.
“It was always the two of them,” she said. “A place where they went to solve the world’s problems, I guess. Now Kim and Emily have a place where they will go and pretend they’re with him because they can’t come here. Now, when we come up, we’ll have a place, too.”
The family hopes to plant the tree sometime in mid-September.
Victoria had written a tribute for Schneider’s memorial service in Jacksonville that touched on what he had taught her during his time here and how he had brightened up her day:
“And as we sit here together, reminiscing on the countless memories we are left of him, where they all differ again, we have one thing in common. In one way or another, he taught us something. For me personally, the grass is greener, the flowers smell sweeter and music is all the more enjoyable. I am thankful for the smaller things presented to me, rather than taking them for granted. In a way, Eric taught us what life is all about: To fear nothing and to enjoy everything put in front of you… except maybe celery.”
