James Reinhold Schnirel

James Schnirel 1931 ~ 2008 James Reinhold Schnirel (Jim) passed on at his home on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2008, from a condition of congestive heart failure. He was 76.Jim was born on October 26, 1931 in Geneva, N.Y. to Edwin Schnirel and Charlotte Byer Schnirel. Jim served proudly in the Navy's Seabees (Construction Battalion) on Guam during the Korean War. He married Shirley Jeanne Birdwell on June 22, 1957, in Norman, OK, where he graduated from the University of Oklahoma in Architecture. The couple moved to Salt Lake City, UT in 1959, where Jim taught architectural drafting at "Trade Tech", (now Salt Lake Community College) and held many positions at the college, from Dept. Head to Dean to Vice President for Business. He also served a year as Acting President for the college. After 25 years, Jim retired in 1987 and began his second career as a full-time artist of watercolor, mixed media, and acrylic, doing both impressionistic and abstract paintings. He served a term as Utah Watercolor Society president. Jim designed his home in Summit Park, UT, where he and his wife raised their three children and lived for 33 years. During that time Jim served as Summit Park Homeowners president, as well as a volunteer fireman and Fire Commissioner for Summit County. He wrote the grant that enabled Park City to go from a volunteer to a full-time professional fire dept., and built a new fire station, which bears his name with a plaque on the wall. He participated as an artist for nine years at the Park City Art Festival, along with his son Ben, with whom he also did several father-son art shows, including the Kimball Art Center, Park City, and the Overlook Gallery, Moab, UT. Jim's work sold extensively in Utah, as well as nationally and in Europe. His work is still shown in the Overlook Gallery. In 2001 the Schnirels moved to Wilson Arch, near Moab, UT., where Jim painted the desert landscapes for nearly five years. Due to health reasons, they moved back to Salt Lake City in 2006. Jim is survived by his wife, Shirley, his three children, Ben, Erica Langley, and John, daughters-in-law Kristina and Nancy and his four grandchildren, Alexis, Brooke, Joshua and Hawken. Following cremation, Jim's ashes will be taken to the desert he loved to paint. A private Remembrance Gathering and Ceremony for family and friends will be held at the Schnirels' home on Sat. January 12, 2008 from 2-4 p.m. Jim has enriched us all with his beautiful works of art, each of which contains his essence and spirit. Wherever you are, Jim, we know you're painting.