Gary A. Schneider, 51, of Newtown died quietly in his sleep April 24 at Yale New Haven Hospital. He was born February 6, 1963, in Stamford, and was the son of Walter F. Schneider, Sr, and the late Helen Zboray Schneider.

He graduated from Newtown High School and after a tragic accident in 1981 that left him a paraplegic, he went on to receive his degree in accounting from Ancell School of Business, Western Connecticut State University. 

Mr Schneider was the director of payroll for Danbury Hospital, where he was employed for the last 13 years.

He will always be remembered for his love for his two daughters, the Dallas Cowboys, and New York Mets, and his love and obsession for Bruce Springsteen (the rock music icon) and the number of times he attended his concerts.

Survivors include his two young daughters, Lana and Samantha Schneider; former wife and best friend Anne Riley Schneider; his father Walter F. Schneider, Sr, of Bethel; his brother Walter Schneider, and wife Margaret, of Newtown; sister-in-law Celine Ferguson and her family; former brothers-in-law Daniel, David, Mark, Joseph, and Joachim Riley; two nieces; and several aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Brian Ashbrook of California, the truly amazing man and friend who extended Mr Schneider’s quality of life for five years by giving up one of his kidneys when Mr Schneider’s was failing, also survives him.

Family and friends are invited to attend calling hours at the Honan Funeral Home, 58 Main Street, Newtown, from 5 to 8 pm, Wednesday, April 30. A funeral Mass will take place Thursday, May 1, at 10 am, at St Rose of Lima Church, 38 Church Hill Road, Newtown. Interment will follow at the Newtown Village Cemetery.