Josef H. Schnabl

It is with great sorrow that we announce the passing of our wonderful father, Josef Schnabl (Sepp) on Saturday, July 8th 2023. Dad passed away unexpectedly but peacefully at his home in Fairfax, VA. He was ninety years old. Sepp was our dearly loved father and Opa, brother and great-grandfather, uncle, cousin and friend. He will be greatly missed.

Sepp was preceded in death by his wife of 55 years, Julienne (Julie) Schnabl (née René de Cotret.) He is survived by daughters, Rita Edwards (Brian) and Susanne Pavone (Raymond); sisters, Christiane (Christl) Hierholzer and Gabriele (Gabi) Schnabl; seven grandchildren, Audrey Watkins (Christian), Amanda Fleury (Brian), Colleen Williams (Cody), Rachel Edwards, Cameron Edwards, Matthew Pavone (Sarah) and Mary Pavone; two great grandchildren, Déaglán and Sophie; nieces, nephews, cousins, sisters-in-law and many friends.

No one loved life more than our father. It is only fitting that we rejoice in Sepp’s life and toast him with our memories, so please join us for a memorial celebration on Friday, August 18th 2023 at 2pm, Stacy Sherwood Community Center, 3750 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA. In lieu of flowers, Sepp desired that contributions be made to the Washington Sängerbund 2434 Wisconsin Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20007 or www.saengerbund.org

Josef and Julienne will be laid to rest in a private service at Prospect Hill Cemetery on August 20th 2023.

There are not enough words to express what this loss means to our family and to all his friends. In our heartache, we are finding it difficult to adequately honor the legacy our father left behind. Josef Schnabl lived his life with energy, passion and an unmeasurable amount of love. He was a great father, loving Opa, generous with his time and resources. His friendships span decades, and his commitment to his passions, projects and people was undeniable. It is hard to find a picture of him where he is not smiling and it is hard to think on him and not smile. Sepp was a gentleman, a confidant, a master of many trades, reliable, a force to reckon with but tender hearted and kind. He loved to laugh, tell a good tale, and had a childlike enthusiasm for new adventures, discoveries and life itself. Sepp was genuinely excited to wake up every day and live life to its fullest. He was always thinking and planning. Be it repairing something he could actually replace, we called that the German in him, planning and prepping for Oktoberfest, making the itinerary for his next vacation adventure, planting tomatoes and working in his garden or simply enjoying a gathering with his family or friends, dad’s delight was in living.

Josef Schnabl was born October 6th 1932 in his childhood home, Neuhäusl #3 in Sudetenland to the late Alois and Marie Schnabl. Sepp joyfully spent the first six years of his life on his grandfather’s farm. When he was 7 years old, he became a child of World War II, quickly learning to accept, persevere and survive this tragedy in our history. Despite the challenges he faced, Josef pursued a trade as a blacksmith, learned small machinery repair, and eventually becoming a precision mechanic. After the war his family settled in Frankfurt, Germany. There he worked at Adlerwerke honing his skills in fine machine repair. In 1956, Sepp with great determination and optimism, left Germany with his sister Christl for a new life in Canada. He worked hard, had to learn English and make new friendships. Sepp worked for Sperry Gyroscope repairing and fabricating cockpit instruments. At night he repaired cars but still found some time for dancing and socializing. It wasn’t long before he met and fell in love with Julienne René de Cotret. They married on September 1, 1958 and soon, Sepp and Julie, welcomed two daughters, Rita and Susie. In 1964, with the same determination and optimism, the entire family immigrated to the United States.

Together, Sepp and Julie were dedicated to building a new life for their family. His new country afforded Sepp many opportunities. It began with his first job at Thorpe Smith Inc in Falls Church, VA repairing surveying instruments. Sepp quickly acquired a reputation for excellent precision repair. His hard work paid off, and in 1969 he bought his home in Fairfax, Virginia. Fairfax has been his home for 54 years and as you may imagine, Sepp built a life there filled with memories, heritage and successes.

Prior to the war, Sepp had aspirations of owning his own business and he was keen to observe and learn the industry of surveying repair and supply. Again, with determination and optimism, in 1971 Sepp decided to start his own business naming it SESCO. With his leading, the family had to work together and accept the challenges of starting a new business. There were lean years, long hours and disappointments but he always made sure his family was taken care of and dad still made time for fun. It wasn’t long before Sepp’s excellent reputation and hard work resulted in a successful business that he enjoyed for over 30 years. However, retirement never seemed to be a part of his vocabulary. He still enjoyed being called in on occasion to consult, repair, and teach.

That is if he was in town and not traveling around the world with family and friends. Dad may not have called it retirement but this season of life was definitely his Golden Years. Sepp and Julie thoroughly enjoyed vacations and adventures together. Some of their favorites were an Alaskan Cruise, a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, family visits to Germany, Italy with Christl and yearly vacations to St Maarten. After Julie’s passing, Sepp continued to enjoy exploring new locations and experiences. Whether with family or his travelling companion Camille, dad drove to Knoxville for visits with Susie and family, made a tour of his heritage with Rita and Brian, took a cruise to Russia, made his yearly vacation to St. Maarten and just recently enjoyed an April cruise to Athens. Sepp documented every adventure and every experience with hundreds of photos. It is a visual reminder that dad had and intended to live life to the fullest. He especially loved taking pictures of family and friends. He left a precious legacy and we are so blessed to be able to revisit all the memories he so dutifully documented.

His legacy begins with his heritage. Josef Schnabl, the name does not leave you guessing. He was a proud Egerlander, German through and through and he loved his culture, his language, the people and its traditions. In Eger, he was part of a dancing and singing group. In Canada, he made sure to be part of the German community and in United States he found a bit of home in the Concord Club and his beloved singing society, The Washington Sängerbund. Here he made lifelong friendships, kept traditions and enjoyed singing. He loved music, favoring classical music or traditional songs. He had a reverence for the beauty and emotion that music could create and was so proud to share that love with us. As his daughters, we cannot count the number of times we went to concerts, Oktoberfests, Fachings, Christmas parties at the club, ate bratwurst, drank Glühwein, smelled good coffee and ate wonderful cakes. Dad/Opa was such a vibrant part of our family life that, none of us can imagine spending any holiday without including those traditions. Christmas Eve is vanilla kipferl, Christmas pyramids, singing and a feast. Easter is schutzen, the fall brings Oktoberfest and he never ever forgot to sing for our birthdays.

That was our father, he was always ready to celebrate. He celebrated successes, accomplishments, and new beginnings. He sought to find joy and beauty in so many little things. He valued fine workmanship, excellence and a good work ethic. He was a protector, a counselor, a provider, a man of action. He was generous, happy, fun loving and…he left us too soon. He would have been ninety-one this year and some may say “well he lived a long life.” Although this is true, he had plans to just keep doing what he knew best, to live life to the fullest. We all wish his journey could have been a little longer. Now let us reflect, celebrate and hold on to the legacy of our dear father, Josef Schnabl.

With love to you daddy,

Rita and Susie