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Ruth Schnee

Ruth Adler Schnee

Ruth Adler Schnee, of Colorado Springs, died on January 5, 2023 at age 99. A service was held January 11 at Hebrew Memorial Chapel, officiated by Rabbi Joseph Krakoff. Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery in Ferndale, Mich. Hebrew Memorial Chapel made the arrangements.

Mrs. Schnee was born in 1923 in Frankfurt, Germany. Her family fled to the US shortly after Kristallnacht, arriving in New York in 1939. From there the family moved to Detroit, where Ruth graduated from Cass Technical High School. She obtained her BA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and, in 1946, she was one of the first women to receive an MFA. from the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

In 1948, she married Edward C. Schnee. Together they founded Adler-Schnee, a design consulting firm and modern design shop.

Lovers of classical music, the couple was among the founders of the Detroit Chamber Music Society.

In 2018, Mrs. Schnee moved from Detroit to Colorado Springs to be closer to family.

Among her significant commercial commissions was the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York. Until well into her ninth decade, Ruth was a sought-after consultant for projects involving the restoration of mid-century modern buildings and residences, and her fabric designs are still in production by Knoll Textiles of New York and Anzea Textiles of Texas.

Among the awards Mrs. Schnee received were the American Institute of Architects’ International Color Award. Her work was featured in the Venice Biennale in 2011, and her textile designs and papers are included in the collections of the Cranbrook Museum of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Mich; the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich.; and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England.

An oral history interview of her career is included within the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC.

Mrs. Schnee is survived by children Anita Schnee of Fayetteville, Ark., Jeremiah (Margaret Poswistilo) Schnee of New York; and Daniel (Susan) Schnee of Colorado Springs; and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Contributions may be made to the Chamber Music Society of Detroit, the Rhode Island School of Design or Temple Shalom in Colorado Springs.

Copyright © 2023 by the Intermountain Jewish News




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