Raymond Schnell

Dickinson Cattleman Raymond Schnell, 94, moved on to eternally green pastures on December 23 at Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center, Bismarck.  Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Bismarck, Thursday, December 28, 11:00 am with Msgr. Gene Lindemann officiating. A prayer service will be held at Eastgate Funeral Service, 2302 E. Divide Ave., Bismarck, on Wednesday December 27 at 7:00 pm with family greeting visitors starting at 6:00 pm. A celebration of Raymond’s life and burial will take place in Dickinson this summer. Raymond was the fifth of thirteen children of Ray and Clara (Kittelson) Schnell and was born in Dickinson September 5, 1923.  His German-Russian grandparents homesteaded near Richardton, and his father was a prominent Republican who served as North Dakota lieutenant governor and ran for governor in 1956.  Raymond completed his primary and secondary education in Dickinson graduating from Dickinson High School in 1941 and enrolling at North Dakota Agricultural College (NDSU) that fall. His college education was interrupted by WWII when he joined the Marine Corps.  He served in the South Pacific and was en route to the planned invasion of the Japanese mainland when peace was declared.  He spent time with the occupying forces in Japan, Guam, Palau, and China until his honorable discharge in 1946.  Raymond graduated from Colorado A&M (Colorado State University) in 1952 with a degree in Animal Husbandry. He was a member of Alpha Gamma Rho agricultural fraternity and Phi Kappa Phi honorary scholastic fraternity.  Raymond married Geneva, daughter of Jack and Katherine Grasl of New England, ND, December 27, 1949 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Dickinson.  They raised two sons and three daughters in Dickinson and moved to Bismarck in 2012. Raymond’s early years were spent on his parents’ beef cattle and dairy operation near Dickinson, where he and his siblings milked cows and delivered milk door to door.  He was involved with his father and brothers in the operation of the Dickinson Live Stock Sales Company, later Schnell Livestock Auction Market, since its inception in 1937, as well as the expansion of the Schnell auction markets to Miles City, MT, Lemmon, SD, and Beulah, ND in the 1960s and 1970s.  He also owned and operated cattle ranches in Adams and Dunn counties. Raymond Schnell was devoted to the advancement of the beef cattle industry, the livestock marketing sector, and the community in which he lived.  He served as president of the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association and regional vice president of the American National Cattlemen’s Association as well as director of the North Dakota Beef Commission, National Livestock and Meat Board, Cattle Fax, and the Beef Industry Council.  He was national president of the Certified Livestock Markets Association (now Livestock Marketing Association) and chairman of its Livestock Health Council.  He chaired the Greater North Dakota Association’s agriculture committee, the ND Stockmen’s Association’s Marketing and Transportation Committee, and the ND Extension Service consultation board.  Locally, Raymond chaired the Dickinson Chamber of Commerce agriculture committee, Trinity Educational Foundation, was president of the Dickinson Rotary Club, served 25 years on the board of Home on the Range, Sentinel Butte.  He was a member of Elks Lodge 1137, Knights of Columbus, Fraternal Order of Eagles, American Legion, and VFW.  He received numerous awards and recognition including the North Dakota Stockmen’s Association’s Top Hand award, Livestock Marketing Association’s Stateman of the year, National Livestock Dealers Association’s Distinguished Service Award, NDSU Saddle and Sirloin Club’s Agriculturalist of the Year, ND Water Users Assn Water Wheel, and along with his brother, Willard, honored by the Roughrider Days Commission as Rancher of the Year.  In his prime, Raymond was popular in southwestern North Dakota and nationally as a humorous and talented emcee and knowledgeable and entertaining guest speaker. Raymond is survived by his wife, Geneva; children Gary (Alexana) Eaton, CO; Peggy (Warren) Sundet, Williston; Don (Karen) Greensboro, GA; and Sheila (Jed) Gilbertson, Bismarck; 11 grandchildren and 16 great grandchildren; siblings Willard (Linda), Dickinson; Robert, Rapid City, SD; Shirlene Winn, Georgetown, TX; Wayne (Maureen), Santa Rosa Beach, FL; and Gordon (Sandee), Dickinson; sister-in-law Carla Schnell, San Diego, CA.  He was preceded in death by his parents, daughter Mary Kay (Ron) Christensen, brothers Howard and Jerry, sisters Lucille Law, Viola Boehm, Oral Shjeflo, and Luella and Laverne who died in childhood. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Home on the Range, Sentinel Butte, ND, Dickinson Catholic Schools Foundation or CHI St. Alexius Hospice.