The life of Jacob Cole Schneider

PHOTO: Jacob Schneider loved to have fun outdoors and would make the most simple things fun in Montana. (Credit: Jim Schneider)

By Max Scheiber,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

April 1, 2019 was a spring morning a whole community will never forget. Two teens were fatally electrocuted while trying to save their dog. His girlfriend and older cousin witnessed the incident and tried to save them.

News of the tragic incident spread throughout the community. One of the teens, Jacob Schneider, was well-known to many Davis High students who continue to struggle with his death.

Celebration of life

Kooper Kijanka, a senior at DHS, was a good friend of Jacob. 

“We would go on road trips with our dads every summer,” Kijanka said. Jim and Brian, Jacob’s and Kooper’s dads, would bond taking trips.

Kooper had been best friends with Jacob since they were very little. They would do outdoor activities like riding ATVs and snowboarding in Tahoe.

Jacob cared for people he liked and on occasion would love to play games with some of his friends. Tanner McNamera, a friend of Jake and a senior at DHS, was the object of some of the fun.

They would play games of pool with his neighbors for money. Sometimes stakes would go up to $100. But unfortunately for Mcnamera he couldn’t win much or at least only against Jake. “He was an excellent pool player,” McNamara said.

Reminiscing on his time spent with Jacob, Mcnamera gets emotional. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be who I am today,” he said. 

They also used to drift quads, ride motorcycles and shoot guns. Rain or shine, they would be outside ripping through the dirt.

Jacob had many special people in his life who like to share stories about him.

Memorials

Jacob is remembered for giving and sharing things he owned. His mother, Colleen Schneider, and other family and friends are setting up memorials in his honor.

A sitting area in Dixon High School’s quad was recently dedicated in Jake’s honor. “Jake was more about friendships than academics,” Colleen Schneider said. 

“Jacob deserved something special,” said Angela West, vice principal at Dixon High. She imagines Jake would like the area to socialize and make friends..

Earlier in the summer of 2019, both parents planted an Ohia tree on the Big Island of Hawaii. 

The garden on the right side of the Schneider’s house has stepping-stones that family and friends made during Thanksgiving.

In Colleen Schneider’s home town in Montana, she has established two memorial benches in a small park, as well as another bench on a trail in Wild Horse in Davis.

She is now currently working on two more ideas, one at the Davis Little League field he used to play baseball when he was little. In addition, the second is a memorial at a petting zoo in Jacob’s father’s hometown.

Settlement

There had been a $14 million settlement from the irrigation company that owned the canals. There was cut wires that made the bridge have electrical current. 

Both parents of the children split the money. The Schneider’s parents want to donate a portion of the money in honor of Jake.