Wesley Frank Schneeberger
Wesley Schneeberger, 20, of East Fallowfield, PA, passed away peacefully Wednesday evening, May 22, 2013, at A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, DE, after a long journey for a new heart. He was the youngest son of Noel and Elizabeth Schneeberger also of East Fallowfield.
Wes was an Honor Society student and 2011 graduate and of Coatesville Area Senior High. At the 2011 CASH senior prom he and his date uniquely and proudly paraded in his medical scooter. That fall he began college and was interested in pursuing a degree in economics and business. He was just beginning the second semester of his freshman year when he entered the hospital.
He was a member of Hibernia United Methodist church.
Wes was challenged every day of his life with physical disabilities and the subsequent need for a numerous surgeries beginning as a young boy. In 2006 he had a full spinal fusion to treat a severe case of scoliosis. Throughout all of these procedures and his daily life Wes never complained about his burden. Rather he developed and exercised a quiet persistence that only became stronger as he grew into adulthood. He rarely took “No” for an answer. If he was determined to do something he did it, whether it was to ride on the most intense rides at Dorney Park, or simply get his driver’s license and his own car; that is, one of his own choosing and color, of course. In the fall of 2011 Wes finally was able to complete the one activity that he had wanted to do for many years. That was to go tubing on the Potomac River in Virginia behind a friend’s boat. Being who he was he naturally did it in his own way: in style and with panache.
Wes had a gift for being able to connect easily with people and honed his talent to have friends and strangers alike do things for him with hardly a question or discussion. He was surely going to be an effective and well liked leader of people as he got older. Wes left his mark where ever he went. During this last, long stay in the hospital he inspired the staff with his strength and determination and touched their hearts with his personality and wry sense of humor. His last gesture was to allow the hospital to autopsy his remains to see what they could learn from his damaged heart and past surgeries that could help other patients. He was very intentional; everything he did had a purpose. Wesley was a courageous and remarkable young man who will be sorely missed by all who knew him and those who would have.
He is survived by his parents and older brother, Grant who will be a senior at Penn State; his maternal grandmother at Garden Spot Village in New Holland; and a number of aunts, uncles and cousins in Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, and Texas.
Service will be held Friday May 31 at 4 PM from the Hibernia United Methodist Church, 220 Hibernia Road, Coatesville, Pa. Beginning with a viewing from 2-4pm followed by a service. Interment will be private. For directions to the church, please visit www.gbgm-umc.org/hibernia
In lieu of flowers, donations in Wesley’s name may be made to The Caralynn Titter Foundation, an organization that supports families facing a pediatric heart transplant. Please see www.carasheartofhope.org for more information.
Arrangements by The Labs Funeral Home, Inc of Honey Brook.
For additional information, please visit www.thelabsfh.com