Erin M. Schneeweiss

SCHNEEWEISS, ERIN M. (nee MURPHY), 60, passed away peacefully at her home on December 30^th, 2023. She was born in Queens, NY, on July 3, 1963, to Marilyn and Jay J. Murphy, who predeceased her. She graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx with a degree in Theater/Arts and English. She also received a Masters in English from Montclair State University.

Erin taught High School and Junior High English, Drama, and Communications for 30 years at Hasbrouck Heights High School in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. She was the senior class advisor, and yearbook advisor, and coordinated the annual Faculty Talent Show. She helped her students impact their community with Read Across America, and Community Service projects. She planned and coordinated role-playing skits with her high school drama students to be performed for the middle school students to learn from. One of her greatest passions was directing the middle school and high school plays and musicals including Singing in the Rain, The Sound of Music, Little Shop of Horrors, Grease, and Working, amongst many others. She called her students “her kids,” and kept in touch with them for years after they graduated, checking in on birthdays and for major life events. See what the local paper had to say about Erin in the link below.

CLICK HERE 

Hasbrouck Heights School Community Mourns the Sudden Death of Longtime Theater Teacher

In 2018, she retired from teaching to move full-time to Old Forge to her family’s camp on Morrow Point. She first visited Old Forge in 1980 for snowmobiling and was a seasonal resident from 1980 until she retired. She and her husband Fred owned and operated the Adirondack Dog House for nearly 15 years where she greeted every customer with a smile.

Erin also enjoyed reading, knitting, camping throughout the United States, and visiting and laughing with her children, cousins, and friends. She spent countless hours saving thousands of dogs and cats through her volunteer work with Circle of Hope K9 Rescue New England as an adoption coordinator. People used to tell her “You can’t save them all…” to which she would reply “But we can sure try!”

She married the love of her life, Fred, and they had a 44-year love affair. They were married in Suffern, NY on June 5, 1987. She is survived by her husband Fred, daughter Caitlyn of Annapolis, Maryland, and Christopher of Houston, Texas and their adopted son Corey Lange, his wife Kim, and their daughters MaKenna and Ryleigh of Wood-Ridge, NJ. She also leaves behind many cousins, nieces, and nephews with whom she cherished every family gathering. She was shown unconditional love by her two rescue pups, Rory and Bailey, who introduced her to the joys of animal rescue. 

Her family wishes to thank their many friends, and the Old Forge community for the overwhelming love and support shown during such a difficult time.

Most of all, Erin will be remembered for her smile, her laugh, and her unwavering optimism. She said that happiness is a choice.