Marika Schneider

Marika Schneider, who helped women of all generations choose the right intimate apparel at the venerable Ridgewood Corset Shop, died Thursday. The Ho-Ho-Kus resident was 69.

She began showing symptoms of ALS amyotrophic lateral sclerosis  also known as Lou Gehrig's disease  during the summer and was diagnosed Oct. 5, her husband, Grant Schneider, said.

The Schneiders purchased the Ridgewood Corset Shop in 1986 after being in the recreational vehicle business. Mrs. Schneider, who emigrated from the Netherlands in 1956, had worked in the store during her years at Ridgewood High School and off and on after her marriage.

The stately Mrs. Schneider was well known among women who have had mastectomies. She was a certified fitter of mastectomy bras and prostheses and went to great lengths to make those customers feel at ease.

"Sometimes they come in and are shy or embarrassed," she said in a 2010 interview with The Record. "Then |I give them the bra, we put the prosthesis in and they get this big smile on their face. It's wonderful. They tell me they feel human again."

"My wife might well have ended up a nurse if she had the money after high school," Grant Schneider said. "But she loved this business. She really did."

The shop, established in 1936, will be closed Friday and Saturday for the funeral. Asked about its future, Grant Schneider said: "I have to get a grip on myself before I can make a rational decision about where we go from here."

Marika Schneider is survived by her husband of 47 years; sons Grant II of Alexandria, Va., and Eric of Westwood, and four grandchildren. Visiting is Friday from 2 to 4:30 p.m., followed by the service, at Vander Plaat Funeral Home, Wyckoff. Interment will be Saturday at Mount Comfort Memorial Park, Alexandria, Va.