As a child, Schneider was regaled by her mother, Florence Nierenberg, with the tale of how Hadassah's founder, Henrietta Szold, had held one of the earliest organizing meetings of the international Jewish women's organization in the home of Harriette's grandmother.  The story obviously made an impression as Schneider went on to serve as a president of Hadassah chapters in Great Neck, Hillcrest and Kew Garden Hills, New York, as well as San Diego.  

She also was devoted to other organizations including ORT, for which she was a board member of the Eastcliff chapter in San Diego; Tifereth Israel Synagogue of San Diego, where she was a past vice president of the Sisterhood, and Israel Bonds, for which she and Sara Tucker—wife of
opera star Richard Tucker—were co-chairs of the bond drive for Great Neck in the 1950s.

Born Feb. 3, 1917 in New York City, Schneider attended New York University and Columbia University and was married nearly 62 years ago to Murray Schneider, who survives her.  They met in 1935 when she was the first customer at his luncehonette in New York City, and were wed Thanksgiving Day 1939. 

The couple raised three children: Judith Fox, who divides her time today between Keswick, Va., and La Jolla; Len, a Rancho Bernardo resident, and Bonnie Hall of San Diego.

After relocating with her husband in 1978 to San Diego, Schneider showed her devotion to literature by starting a reading club, which is still going strong; lecturing on books and other topics of interest at the JFS College Avenue Senior Center, reading to children at an elementary school, and writing and acting in many plays produced for Hadassah and ORT.  She also was quite fond of traveling with her husband, and spoke knowledgeably zabout destinations around the world.

Besides by her husband and children, Schneider is survived by two sisters, Pauline Epstein of Coral Springs, Fla., and Doris Copperman of Contra Costa, CA; grandchildren Brian Fox, Jennifer Armour, Keren Stern and Jessica Stern, and by two great-grandchildren Hannah and Ian Armour.

"She was a very bright, sweet woman with a good sense of humor and a life-long eagerness to learn and grow," commented daughter Judith.  "She was curious about the world and was always supportive, unconditionally, of the people she loved.  She was a wonderful wife, mother and very `hip and cool' grandmother and great-grandmother.  Vibrant, energetic, interested and interesting, she was a special and impressive woman and a great role model for many."

The family requested that contributions be made in her memory to either Tifereth Israel Synagogue or to the American Cancer Society.