Uncle Bob, Aunt Gloria, Mark, Pam, And Karen, I love you all and you mean so much to me! Loved how Uncle Bob always called me “Darlin.’” There’s too much to say to fit in this little box. God bless you all ❤️

Uncle Bob was a kind soul, who was loved by all. Our late sister, Carol, always thought he resembled the actor Charlton Heston, one of the heart throbs of Hollywood. He could spot a bargain a mile away, and loved hunting for well-priced treasures. I get that talent from him…which our mother always referred to as having “an eagle eye.” He loved to drop by our house, have a cup of coffee, and show us his latest finds. He and Aunt Gloria were phenomenal dancers, who glided effortlessly and gracefully across the dance floor - such a pleasure to watch. I also have wonderful memories of playing pinochle and three- handed moon (with dominoes) with my father and Uncle Bob - two of the best poker faces and card sharks around - and hearing Uncle Bob say “Good Night Nurse!” if I beat him in the game, which probably was not very often! We will all miss him terribly, but he will always remain in our hearts.  May his soul Rest in Peace.

Among my 70+ years of memories of Uncle Bob, one event stands out above all others.  While a sophomore at the University of Houston, I went to work in the Summer of 1968 for United Scale Models, and was soon “farmed out” as a contract employee to the Fluor Corporation.  At that time, I was assigned to work on a design model of a neoprene (synthetic rubber) plant, similar to one that the company had built a few years before at Grenoble, France.  To my great surprise and delight, I got to work with one of Fluor’s leading and most senior designers, my uncle, Bob Schneider.  Uncle Bob was highly respected and much liked by everyone at Fluor, and with good reason, due to his vast experience and knowledge of the petro-chemical plant design and construction industry, as well as his sense of humor.  When the word got out that his nephew was working with him on the neoprene project, I was accorded at least a small share in his celebrity status.  My participation  in the design model profession spanned 23 years.  But the time I spent with Uncle Bob, 54 years ago, as my supervisor, teacher and mentor while at Fluor, on one of my first design projects, was among the most enjoyable experiences of my entire working career.   We will all miss Uncle Bob, terribly, when it finally sinks-in that he is gone from us.  But he will never be forgotten.  

I remember Uncle Bob from my early childhood. I remember being told by my mother that he was in the war. When he returned to Houston, he brought sailor hats to my brother and me. Also, for a period of time, he lived with our family. I remember playing catch with him, numerous games; and his helpfulness to my parents. In my adult years, working as an engineer, I would have occasion to call Uncle Bob, regarding pipe and fittings standards and specifications, and other technical design matters. Uncle Bon always knew the answer off the "top of his head.," a virtual encyclopedia. I well remember all the great times playing pinochle with him, and discussing family history. I will very much miss him and his humor; and I pray - "Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord."

While I was well aware of Uncle Bob's reputation as a brilliant mechanical engineer, I learned that he didn't "turn it off" when he left the office.
Uncle Bob was visited at my folks' house one day in 1993 and I was telling him that I was hoping to repair the garage door to get another year of service out of it before I replaced it. It was the original, wooden, one-piece door and it was severely sagging and ready to collapse because the bottom  2x4 had both rotted and cracked.  He offered to help and took me to the lumber yard to buy the materials.  We strapped the 16-foot long materials to the top of his car. My small two-seater was too small to transport the lumber. 
Back at the house, we disassembled the lower part of the door and he reflexively explained that we should bend the 2x4 bottom piece in the direction opposite to the sag. To hold this spring-loaded 2x4 in place, he showed me a way we could glue on a 1x4 trim piece to laminate the assembly.  We then reassembled the door and for the first time ever it was perfectly flat with no sag. The extra year of service life I had hoped for has turned into 29 years, still with no sag.

In connection with the "Museum Ships on the Air" amateur radio event in June 2012, I invited Uncle Bob to go with me and my son Nicholas to Seawolf Park in Galveston where members of the Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club were operating on board the radio room of the USS Stewart. Also in Seawolf Park is the USS Cavalla, a WWII, Gato-class diesel/electric submarine, a vessel Uncle Bob served on briefly. 
While on board the Cavalla, although he originally said he would not remember anything, Uncle Bob recalled in great detail many things about the submarine and his responsibilities. He showed us the forward torpedo room where he would crawl inside the torpedo tubes to clean them with a kerosene-soaked rag. He showed us where his bunk was and described how every nook and cranny along the sides of the ship was used to store canned goods. In the galley, he demonstrated how he would perform KP duty, primarily washing dishes. He was able to recall where the ice cream freezer was as well as the brig (which was below the floor).
His explanations were catching attention of the event photographer. He took several pictures of Uncle Bob that remained on the BVARC website for years. We all really enjoyed the experience.

One of my earliest memories of Uncle Bob is this - maybe it only happened once, but I recall going to gatherings at Papa’s house when I was very young and thinking to myself that he and Christopher were always sitting in the big chairs in the front of the house when we arrived. I used to wonder why that was - but that’s where the AC unit was! 

Uncle Bob, Aunt Gloria, Pam and Karen were always so welcoming. We always enjoyed visiting them when they lived on the lake. Uncle Bob would let us try to fish. So many great memories from those visits. And boy, he made the best burgers! 

We will miss you, Uncle Bob! 

Dad loved to tell stories.  Quite often about his exploits in the engineering business as a Piping Designer.  How he quit one place to get a 50-cent raise at the next place.  And then got hired back by the first place again with another raise because they wanted him back just that much.  Or how he didn't know that he had been promoted to supervisor until he got a paycheck for "too much money".  I mean, I learned that he was a big deal when I worked as a Designer at Fluor, but all those tall tales…I thought it was mostly just stories until years later when I had the chance to work with him at a small engineering company in La Porte, TX. 
This happened at the dawn of CAD, so we were all using pencils on that job.  My job was to design a vessel with a multi-level structure as a prototype for making Toyota dashboard foam.  I slaved over my drafting table for days until I finally came up with a layout that I thought might work, so at lunchtime, I showed it to Dad.  He was at the drafting table right across the aisle from me.  Yeah, really small company.
He pulled out a D-sized tablet and in the span of 10 minutes, he proceeded to draw three versions that were all better than mine, with each of his versions being better in some way than the one just before it.  I mean, intellectually, I knew that he was good, but to see him do so easily, in minutes, what I had struggled with for days…well…I began to understand the difference between a Designer and whatever I was at that moment in time.  Because if he was a Designer, then I most certainly was not.  He tried to make me feel better by telling me that it’s always easier to fix something than it is to figure it out in the first place.  Perhaps true, but still…
One of those stories he liked to tell was about how his boss once introduced him to a client as his “Piping Magician”.  It wasn’t until that day that I was completely sure that story was true.

When I went to the Fluor piping design school, I actually didn't realize the level of respect that my father had earned in the company and the industry.  Nor did I imagine the level of his contribution.  I learned of/from a book affectionately known as the "Piping Bible", aka the Fluor Piping Design Guide.  I gradually came to understand that he had contributed much of the content in this all-important book.  It wouldn't be far from the truth to say that he wrote the book on Piping Design, for the company that many would agree trained most of the people working in the industry.  It was a big deal.  I suspect that it's still a big deal...pipe hasn't changed much in the years since then.

As I gained experience in the industry, I began to understand just how many people’s lives he had touched.  I had the honor of working with him at Bayside Engineering, which was an amazing and humbling experience, but more than that, we couldn’t go out for lunch without someone yelling, “Hey Bob” or similar from across the restaurant.  Everyone knew him, and he knew them.  And everyone liked him and respected him.  He had a real gift for mechanical design and layout, and he taught everyone he worked with how to do it better.

Over the years, I saw his “RLS” initials on a great many engineering drawings…hard to mistake his lettering, since it looked like it came from a machine.  Sometimes he was the designer, and other times he was the checker.  Not just at Flour, but at other firms too.  I never worked anywhere that someone didn’t walk up to me and ask, “What’s your dad been up to?”.  Usually followed by a story about how he gave them their start, or taught them some aspect of the job that they were currently doing.  Practically everyone I met had attended the Fluor piping design school.  There was a fellowship that I never expected when I started out.  It was hard for me to fully understand and accept just how important he was in that world.  Many will miss him greatly…as will I.

OBITUARY

Robert Louis Schneider

July 11, 1925 – March 2, 2022

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