Photo from Columbus Ledger-Enquirer online.
Frank Schnell’s memorial service is scheduled for March 14, 2010, at 3:30 at the Lumus Chapel at Linwood Cemetery in Columbus, Georgia. He died in mid-January.
This website has a brief obituary notice elsewhere.
Read more about the Chapel here.
Photo from Columbus Ledger-Enquirer online.
Frank T. Schnell was a Columbus native and long-time SGA member. He retired from the Columbus Museum in 2001 and moved to Florida with his wife, Gail, also an SGA member.
Tim Chitwood in the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer online has this obituary, dated Wednesday, 20 January 2010.
He reports: “The retired Columbus Museum archaeologist died Monday in Florida. His wife Gail said he fell Saturday from a ladder while storing Christmas decorations in their attic in Bradenton. He was 69.”
Fred, doing what he loved.
Georgia archaeology lost an enthusiastic advocate upon the premature death of Fred Scheidler on July 15th. Fred resided in Marietta and in recent years had become a constant and welcome participant at a host of archaeological gatherings in and around Atlanta.
Archaeology was a lifelong interest of Fred’s, having become smitten with the subject as a boy in Florida. One of his favorite stories involved the discovery and preservation of a dugout canoe deep in the woods near his childhood home.
In support of the Society for Georgia Archaeology he cheerfully served as President of the Bulloch Hall chapter based in Roswell and as Publicity Chairman of the Greater Atlanta chapter, in addition to maintaining active membership in the Northwest Georgia and Georgia Mountains chapters. It is safe to say that there wasn’t an archaeological endeavor Fred didn’t love and he gave generously of his time by volunteering countless hours wherever he could. He was ever eager to relate storiesof his volunteer experiences, whether inventorying collections at Chieftains in Rome, assisting with a geophysical survey at Etowah, excavating in the northern hills or on the lower Ocmulgee, or working with collections at Fernbank Museum of Natural History. Fred is remembered in fact for his interest in carpooling to out-of-town events where he would regale like-minded friends with these and other stories.
Fred’s passion for archaeology inspired him to pursue numerous other projects independently. At any time he might have been found researching abandoned mines north of Atlanta, seeking to explain the accidental discovery of a brass “thunder mug” cannon, or tinkering to design better equipment for the field or lab. Most recently Fred was generating what became a much-loved electronic newsletter called “Great Dirt.” In numerous issues recipients were not only alerted to upcoming events relevant to archaeology, but they were treated to virtual excursions to projects around the globe.
Fred is survived by his wife, Carol Scheidler, and a son and daughter-in-law, David and Lauren Scheidler. The family recommends honoring Fred’s memory with donations to either:
The Society for Georgia Archaeology
Endowment Fund
c/o Secretary
P.O. Box 693
Athens, GA 30603
Fred Scheidler Memorial Fund
Episcopal Church of the Annunciation
1673 Jamerson Rd.
Marietta, GA 30066
Georgia’s archaeological community has recently lost one of its own. Journalist, artist, archaeologist, and ethnohistorian, Marilyn Pennington passed away on June 9, 2006 at the age of 75. Pennington was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Georgia in 1950. After working as a reporter for The Marietta Daily Journal, as a freelance journalist, as an antique dealer at Scott Antique Market, and as an artist who sold her well-respected work in a shop at the High Museum and at the Piedmont Park Art Festival, and after raising three children, Marilyn Pennington returned to the University of Georgia in her 40s to earn a Master’s degree in anthropology.
Her thesis, entitled ‚“A Comparison of Non-flaked Stone Artifacts from Two Early Historic Sites in Northwestern Georgia,” reflected the interest she developed in Native Americans during the contact and historic period. An example of her treatment of ethnohistoric materials can be found in her Early Georgia (6:1 & 2) article, ‚“Stone Tools in Historical Accounts, 1521-1800.” Some of her other notable scholarly contributions include ‚“Standing Peach Tree: Report of Ethnohistorical Accounts” in Archeological and Historical Research in the Chattahoochee River National Recreational Area (1979), which was prepared for the National Park Service, and the Early Georgia volume (3:1) she edited entitled Georgia Prehistory: An Overview in Time and Space. When employed by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, she taped an interview with Arthur Kelly in 1973 that was transcribed as a document entitled ‚“In His Own Words: An Interview with Dr. Arthur Kelly (1900-1979),” edited by Mark Williams. This effort is a fascinating and valuable account of archaeology in Georgia and elsewhere in the United States from the 1930s into the 1970s.
Although she came to Native American studies through archaeology, her interests shifted over time to ethnology and linguistics. She spent time living among the Cherokee, collecting oral history, and studying native Southeastern languages.
Ms. Pennington had been paralyzed from the shoulders down for the last three years after contracting a virus that triggered the autoimmune disease, Guillain-Barré syndrome. Nonetheless, friends indicated that she remained intellectually engaged, despite her physical limitations. She ultimately succumbed to complications from cancer. She will be missed by family, friends, and colleagues.