Founding Grass Seed Farmer Dies Manuel Schneidmiller Was Grower, Benefactor, Citizen

Manuel “Mannie” Schneidmiller was the godfather of grass growing on the Rathdrum prairie.

In 1949, at a time when most farmers were timidly fearful of trying anything new, Schneidmiller started his grass seed empire with little besides his Washington State University agronomy degree, his wife, Gladys, his brother, Elmer, and a small ranch.

“We started with nothing,” Gladys Schneidmiller said Monday, four days after Schneidmiller’s death at age 82.

He had caught her eye when they both worked for the Farm Security Administration.

“He was polite. He was so gentlemanly and interesting. He had a good sense of humor,” she said, reminiscing about what had attracted her to him when they met.

The Schneidmillers first owned a dairy, then had beef cattle and then began drilling wells and planting grass seed.

It was the grass seed that many fellow farmers remembered Mannie Schneidmiller for.

Don Jacklin, a family friend, remembers when his father told the Schneidmiller brothers that Jacklin Seed Co. needed grass seed and that few farmers were willing to try something as new and untried as a seed crop. But the Schneidmiller brothers were willing.

Mannie Schneidmiller left behind business interests that include grass seed and grain farms near Post Falls, Coeur d’Alene and Liberty Lake, Wash.

“He was your basic down to earth person. He was very easy to talk to,” Jacklin said.

Many remembered him as a quiet, humble man who never expected any fanfare for the numerous contributions he made to the community.

“He’s the kind of guy who I’m sure is looking down and saying ‘What is all this fuss?”’ said his son, Gary Schneidmiller.

Manuel and Gladys Schneidmiller donated the land for the Kootenai Medical Center, Prairie View Elementary School and the land for Harpers Inc., a furniture manufacturer in Post Falls.

“One of the best things he’s ever done is he’s been a strong supporter of Kootenai Medical Center,” said Rick Gunther, who works for Schneidmiller Realty. “He’s the kind of guy who’s been involved with lots of boards and positions and never wanted any limelight.”

“They’ve donated to a lot of worthy causes over the years, almost too many to name,” said Post Falls City Administrator Jim Hammond.

In addition to donating money and land to the hospital, the school and the furniture manufacturer, Manuel Schneidmiller had worked as the highway district commissioner and the water district commissioner.

“If he had a problem, he worked very hard in coming to a solution,” Hammond said. “He was a man of integrity. If he gave his word, you could count on it.”

Gary Schneidmiller described his father as a visionary for the family business and for the community.

“A friend of mine told me the other day that he was a gentleman in an ungentlemanly time,” he said. “You couldn’t have a better friend,” said Evelyn Johnson, a family friend.

Schneidmiller was born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He graduated from high school in St. John, Wash. He then attended Central Washington University and graduated from WSU.

He was a big Cougar fan, Gary Schneidmiller said. Whenever teenagers worked on the family farm, Manuel Schneidmiller encouraged them to go to college and pursue their dreams.

“I was very close to him,” Elmer Schneidmiller said. “We went through the war together. We went to college together so this is very hard on me.”

Manuel Schneidmiller had served in the Marines in the South Pacific, fighting in Taraway, Saipan, Tinian and Okinawa. He received the Bronze Star, the Purple Heart and five battle stars.

He and his wife had been married for 51 years.

“He was just one very fine gentleman, to sum it up,” Jacklin said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo