To Celebrate a Life of Love: Bennie Jean Schladoer O’Neill
July 7, 1933-April 12, 2021
Bennie Jean Schladoer O’Neill was born in Bandera County on July 7, 1933. She died peacefully in San Antonio on Monday, April 12, 2021, having reached the age of 87 years and 9 months.
Bennie was born at home on the family farm on Mason Creek, just north of the town of Bandera. As she grew, she helped her parents with all manner of farm work while also attending public schools in Bandera, graduating from Bandera High School in 1950 at the age of 16. After graduation, Bennie found work in Bandera as a telephone operator, and later, a clerk in the courthouse. It was during this time that she met Patrick O’Neill of Hondo, and they were married on January 12, 1952.
Pat and Bennie started their family in Hondo but later moved to San Antonio. In the summer of 1968, the family relocated to Amarillo. During her adult life, Bennie held a variety of jobs including secretary, bookkeeper, and data entry clerk. In 1993, Pat and Bennie retired to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, but later returned to the Texas hill country with a move to Pipe Creek. After Pat died in May of 2010, Bennie lived independently for a time, but a series of medical problems forced a move to San Antonio to be nearer to family and health care.
Although caring for her family occupied most of Bennie’s time, she enjoyed a variety of activities; especially those related to the outdoors and nature. She always described herself as a “country girl” who would fish, camp, and care for her garden and pets when given the opportunity. Bennie was a competent photographer and seamstress, and an excellent cook. She also enjoyed dancing and was fond of traveling.
Bennie was preceded in death by her husband, Patrick Ney O’Neill, her parents, Benjamin Schladoer and Fleta Joiner Schladoer, and her younger sister, Lois Ann Schladoer Schulte. She is survived by two brothers, Richard Schladoer with his wife Patricia, and Ernest Marvin Schladoer with his wife Vivian, as well as Alfred Schulte Jr., her brother-in-law. She is also survived by five sons and a daughter: James Patrick and his wife Deniese, Ben Earl and his wife Belen, Robert Michael and his wife Maria, Richard Marvin and his wife Loraina, Thomas Lee and his wife Annie, and Jean Marie and her husband Jim. Additionally, there are sixteen grandchildren and twenty great-grandchildren.
A funeral mass will be held in San Antonio at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, 4201 De Zavala Rd. on May 29, 2021 at 9:00 AM. The funeral mass will also be streamed live on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG2BMS68OJA. Interment for both Patrick and Bennie O’Neill will immediately follow at Pipe Creek Cemetery.
For those who prefer a charitable donation in lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association of San Antonio and South Texas, 10223 McAllister Fwy., Suite 100, San Antonio, TX, 78216, or www.alz.org.