PATRICIA SCHNEIDER

 

You know those uncomfortable egg-shaped plastic chairs in a waiting room stuck in time? You can picture them, right? Well, it was June of 1978 and a funny thing happened the day I sat down in an orange one for the interview of my life. To my surprise, there on my left was another young graduate from court reporting school.   

                    * Her school was in Wisconsin. Mine was in Ohio.

                    * She had driven hundreds of miles for this interview and so had l .       

                * She had a charcoal gray steno machine in a hard case, the kind that used the RPM fan-folded paper, and so did l. 

                     * She was dressed in interview attire and so was I, but she had that beautiful red hair.         

             *What the heck? A side by side interview? How was this going to turn out?

Happily, we were both hired. That day I gained a job and a friend — Pat Schneider. We supported one another when we had no money and celebrated when we did!

After less than a year, Pat moved on to work at a different firm. As the newbie, Pat covered anything that came in, including overflow work from another court reporter in town, a certain Ted Rhode. As things unfolded, it was through Pat that I met and eventually married Ted. She and I never worked together in the same firm again, but we have remained close friends and colleagues to this day.

Yes, that was very important for me personally, but for the profession what is important is what Pat went on to do.

Pat served as president of KyCRA when she was not even 30 years old. It was a tumultuous time when the officials in the state courts were being routed out by ER and video. I remember taking a step back at a convention because the news media had lights and cameras in Pat's face when she exited the doors of our annual meeting. She may have had knots in her stomach, but on camera she represented KyCRA with poise and eloquence.

Pat has distinguished herself by her pursuit of excellence, attaining the RPR back when you had to pass all three legs of the skills portion at once, the merit because the CRR wasn't invented yet, then the CRR when it came along, and finally the RDR.

Pat wants us to be better, too. This was borne out by her service as chief examiner on more than one occasion so Kentucky could provide an NCRA test site.

Pat has served tirelessly for the profession as KyCRA president, board member, and committee member, including to this day the Voluntary CCR Committee. I could be more specific about her years of service except this award has been kept secret until a few minutes ago, so I haven't interviewed her yet for all the details.

Pat leads by example through service, through the pursuit of continuing education, perfecting her skills, and through the precise and exacting way she represents the profession. She is respected by her colleagues and by the Bar.

Thank you, Pat, for everything you have done!

It is with great honor and privilege that I have been asked to present the Distinguished Service Award to Pat Schneider.