Max Schneider, 91, a news editor for the Chicago Daily News who compiled statistics at the Indianapolis 500 for many years, died Sunday, April 14, of complications following surgery in Florida Hospital DeLand. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Mr. Schneider studied journalism at Butler University and was managing editor of his college paper, the Butler Collegian. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1933 and became a sports reporter and later a copy editor for the Indianapolis Star. In 1941, he was hired to help start the Chicago Sun. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Mr. Schneider was drafted into the Army. His leg was crushed in a training accident, and he returned to Indianapolis to recover. While recovering, he visited the Star and met his future wife, Dorothy, who was a copy editor for the paper. They married in 1945. Mr. Schneider returned to Chicago to work as a copy editor at the Sun until it merged with the Chicago Daily Times. In 1948, the Chicago Daily News hired Mr. Schneider and he eventually became one of the paper’s most trusted news editors, working on such stories as the assassination of President Kennedy and the murders of eight Chicago nurses by Richard Speck. “He liked being pushed to the edge every day,” said his wife. Mr. Schneider retired in 1975 and moved to Lake Helen, Fla., after living in Elmhurst for 26 years. In Lake Helen, Mr. Schneider spearheaded fundraising to build a new public library. Even in retirement, he read with an editor’s eye. “Each morning when the paper came, his eagle eye fell on any mistake,” said his wife. Besides newspapers, Mr. Schneider’s other passion was the Indianapolis 500. Mr. Schneider attended the race every year and kept statistics for the speedway until about four years ago. Besides his wife, Mr. Schneider is survived by three sons, Pete, Richard and Robert; and six grandchildren. An open house was held for his family and friends.
