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Charles I. Schneider dies at 89; former Times Mirror executive

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Charles I. Schneider, a former president and board chairman of the Music Center Operating Co. who served as an executive with Times Mirror Co., died Sunday of age-related causes at his Beverly Hills home, his family said. He was 89.

At the Music Center Operating Co., Schneider oversaw management of the downtown performing arts center for Los Angeles County. He became chairman of the board in 1986.

He also was president of the board of trustees of the St. John’s Hospital and Health Center Foundation in Santa Monica and supported many philanthropic organizations, including the Reiss Davis Child Study Center in Los Angeles and the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kan.

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Charles Ivan Schneider was born April 6, 1923, in Chicago. He served in the Army for two years during World War II and earned a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. After college he started work as an industrial engineer at Curtis-Electro Lighting Corp. in Chicago before rising to president of the company. He moved to California in 1962, heading Jefferson Electronics Co. in Santa Barbara and serving as vice president of American Building Maintenance Industries in Los Angeles before joining Times Mirror in 1966.

He became a group vice president of Times Mirror, the owner of the Los Angeles Times before its sale to Tribune Co. in 2000. He retired in 1988.

Schneider, who was married three times, is survived by his wife, Nancy Barrier-Schneider; three children from his first marriage to Norma Smith, son Charles Jr. and daughters Susan and Kim; two daughters from his marriage to Barbara Anne Krause, Karen Kvitek and Traci Tindall; eight grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and a brother, Paul.

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A memorial service is planned for 10 a.m. Friday at Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park.

news.obits@latimes.com

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