Gary Joseph Schnoebelen

Gary Joseph Schnoebelen died Thursday, May 29, 2025, at the age of 84, just short of his 85th birthday on May 31.Visitation will be from 4:00 - 6:00 pm, Wednesday, June 4, 2025, at Downing & Lahey East Mortuary. Holy Rosary will be at 10:00 am, Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 am, Thursday, June 5, 2025, at Church of the Magdalen, Wichita, KS. Gary was the second child of Omer N. and Marguerite Schnoebelen, born on May 31, 1940, in Compton, CA. He was a gentle man of many words and used that ability to write poems, hundreds of them, and also what the family called “Garyisms”, which were short one/two lines bits of wisdom. One example: I got a job in Las Vegas, but got lost in the shuffle and they said “no dice!” “In 84 years of being around him, I never heard him say a serious curse word,” said his brother, Tim. “That’s just the man he was.” Gary grew up in Mooreland and graduated from Mooreland High School in 1958. Soon after graduation he attended two years at St. Gregory’s Benedictine Monastery Seminary in Shawnee, OK, then another year at St. Thomas Seminary in Denver, CO. During the summer months after being in Denver, Gary enrolled at Northwestern State College, Alva, OK, where he enjoyed, easy for him, courses in sociology, anthropology and psychology. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology at Northwestern State in 1964. He followed up with a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Oklahoma in 1968. Gary loved his family and people in general. He worked with hundreds of patients through his social work at offices in Fort Supply, OK; Hays, KS; Colby, KS; Medicine Lodge, KS; Pratt, KS; Anthony KS; Kingman, KS, and Delta, CO. He retired in 2013. Gary was a devout Catholic and loved his church family. He was a Fourth Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. Most recently Gary took up bowling and was a member of a league in Wichita. He bowled in league play just a few weeks before his untimely death. He was married September 15, 2006, to Betty Brown, in Wichita. Gary was the life of a party: family gatherings, school alumni class get-togethers, picnics, etc. He had a binder of poems he delighted in reading. It was hard to hold back the joyous tears as he read his numerous writings. He also offered serious talks and writings to those who needed to be consoled. Survivors include his wife, Betty, of the home; son, Bryan, of Medford, OR, and daughter, Heather, of Nashville, TN, and their mother, LeAnn Latta of Hendersonville, NC; son, Barry Purdy, and wife, Joani, of Wichita; daughter, Tami Jagels, and husband, Richard, of Manhattan, KS; grandchildren, Hailey Purdy, Natalie Purdy, Reese Meng, Cooper Meng and Graysen Jagels; two brothers, Jim Schnoebelen of Woodward, OK, and Tim Schnoebelen and wife, Karen, of Mooreland, OK; sister, Liane Gaston, and husband, Bob, of Edmond, OK, and numerous nephews, nieces, cousins and friends. Preceding him in death were his parents, Omer N. and Marguerite (Merklin) Schnoebelen; grandparents, Omer F. and Eda Schnoebelen; grandparents, Ray and Grace Merklin; sister-in-law, Vada Schnoebelen; niece, Shelly Waddell; nephews, an infant, Gregory Omer Schnoebelen, and Kent Paul Schnoebelen; Betty’s parents, Willis and Mary Martha (Stuber) Brown. In lieu of flowers, donations in Gary’s honor may be made to Church of the Magdalen, 12626 E 21st St. N., Wichita, KS 67206.