Friends, family and residents of Emporia and beyond filled the Emporia Granada Theatre Monday afternoon to bid their final farewells to Team Schnak Strong founder Kent Schnakenberg.
Hundreds of individuals attended the celebration of life inside the theatre, with many of Schnakenberg’s closest friends, colleagues and family members offering tributes to the man who dedicated much of his life to the betterment of others through various charitable endeavors. This included friend Mark Stuter, who made the trip from Seneca to honor his friend of 50 years, saying he was someone who always put the needs of others far above his own.
Schnakenberg’s twin brother, Mark Schnakenberg, said he was often known as the “Team Schnak guys’ twin brother,” a designation he called a great honor.
Schnakenberg’s granddaughter Taytum says Schnakenberg was an individual whose personality could light up any room.
Schnakenberg’s daughter Paige Rankin says she and her siblings knew from an early age that they “were always going to have to share my dad.” She says that her father was deserving of all of his accolades, accomplishments and compliments he earned throughout his life, but says those alone were not the greatest thing about him.
Trent Schnakenberg, Kent’s son, recalled the day his father told him, “I am going to change the world.”
Schnakenberg had a lengthy career at Navrats Office Supply and he retired from Navrats earlier this year, but the diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes for his niece Michelle in 2013 changed his life path. Schnakenberg and his wife, Natalie, developed Team Schnak Strong the following year as a way to raise funds and bring attention to the disease.
The Schnakenbergs have crisscrossed the country repeatedly toward that end since 2014, generating funds for equipment and patient trips to Camp Discovery in Kansas.
Schnakenberg also dedicated a great deal of time to the Emporia Community Foundation and its annual Match Day event which Team Schnak was a regular participant in almost since the beginning. While Team Schnak was not in the Emporia Community Foundation Match Day fundraiser this year, it had repeatedly raised the most money for diabetes research, equipment and awareness in the years it was involved.
Memorial contributions can still be made to the Team Schnak Strong Fund through the Emporia Community Foundation. Online contributions can be made through emporiacf.org/donate/team-schnak. Mailed contributions can be sent to 527 Commercial Suite B, Emporia, ZIP 66801.
