Colorful longtime Palatine community volunteer dies from COVID-19 complications

Olaf Schneider was known as a colorful character who participated in Palatine's nonprofit community service organizations, including the village's Rotary Club branch that stages the annual downtown Oktoberfest.

Schneider, 77, died of COVID-19 complications Sunday at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, according to Palatine Village Clerk Marg Duer, a longtime family friend. She said Schneider, who lived in Palatine for more than 50 years, fought COVID-19 for about six weeks.

Last year, Schneider and his wife, Liesbeth, served as king and queen of the Rotary's Oktoberfest. Schneider was born in Germany and was proud he became a naturalized U.S. citizen, friends said.

Bob Brickman said he was living in Long Grove when he first met Schneider in the mid-1970s through his membership in the Rotary Club of Palatine.

Schneider was a character who donned lederhosen at the Palatine Rotary's annual installation banquet, Brickman said. He said Schneider, who was retired from a sales career, enjoyed Oktoberfest and worked hard on the fundraising event.

"He was always involved," Brickman said. "If you had a project that required work, he'll be there."

Along with volunteerism as past president of the Rotary Club, membership in the Palatine Jaycees and other endeavors, Schneider enjoyed being captain of his 32-foot sailboat, Charisma.

Brickman recalled how Schneider also piloted back to the Chicago area vessels that were in the Lake Michigan race to Mackinac Island because some participants didn't want to make the return trip.

"He definitely was one of a kind," said Brickman, who co-founded a suburban landscaping company. "I can remember one time when I went to visit when the boat was coming through that they were bringing down from Mackinac and he was at the harbor in South Haven (Michigan) and I had a cap on.

"It started blowing away. Immediately, I had to have one of Olaf's patented caps, which had a thread and two safety pins that were pinned to the collar of my shirt and I didn't lose it again."

Duer described Schneider as a "larger-than-life character in Palatine."

In addition to his wife, Schneider is survived by his daughter, Gabrielle, and son Christian.