Ethel Schneeweis Jones

Ethel Helen Schneeweis Jones, born Ethel Helen Hamel in Burdett, Alberta, Canada on February 10, 1923, passed away peacefully on December 19 ^th just short of her 100 ^th birthday, surrounded by her family.  She was an inspiration to her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and frankly, anyone who knew her. Despite several significant health challenges in the past several years, to the very end Ethel kept her zest for life and remained engaged with her family, friends and the world around her.   She was a loving, humble, practical and devout Catholic mother of 8 who exerted a positive influence on others through all the stages of her life.  While she insisted she had no favorite, she made sure that each of her kids, grandkids and great-grandkids felt they were exactly that.

She was one of seven children born to Eugene and Rose Hamel (two of whom died from influenza) and spent her early childhood with older sisters Bernadette, Marie and Louise and younger brother Edward on the family farm in the Village of Burdett. The family visited Long Beach, California in 1929 and fell in love with the sunshine, palm trees and ocean.  They purchased a small house and planned to spend the school year in Long Beach and the summer months on the farm in Alberta.  However, Ethel’s father died in 1931 at the farm when she was 8 years old, so the family abruptly changed plans and made their year-round home in Long Beach on Gladys St., where Rose raised her five children.

Ethel attended St. Matthew Elementary School and graduated from St. Anthony High School in 1941.  She married William (“Bill”) Hugh Schneeweis of St. Paul, Minnesota in 1946 and a few years later they settled in the new community of Lakewood, where they raised 5 daughters and 3 sons.   Bill and Ethel were married for almost 41 years until Bill passed away in 1988.

Above all, Ethel loved her family.  She also took great joy in dancing, the big-band music of her youth, the beach, the Los Angeles Dodgers, pancakes with peanut butter, roses, the Rosary, the family cabin, a heartfelt laugh and a good story.

Ethel is predeceased by her sisters Louise, Bernadette and Marie and brother Edward, her husband Bill, daughters Frances and Roseanne, and her second husband Harry Jones.

She is survived by her children Gregory (Brenda), Susan (Jon), Michael (Evelyn), Gerald (Megan), Terese (Charles) and Bernadette (Steven), as well as 21 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren (soon to be 28).

In Ethel’s remembrance, Mass will be celebrated at St. Cyprian Church in Long Beach at 11:00 a.m. on December 29 ^th , 2022. A Rosary will precede the Mass at 10:30 am.

The family respectfully requests that in lieu of flowers, a charitable donation can be made to the Order of Carmelite Sisters For the Aged and Infirm at carmelitesisters.com/donate or to St. Anthony High School at longbeachsaints.org.