Kay Louise Schoenefeld

KAY LOUISE SCHOENEFELD

76, of Tijeras, NM passed away on July 28th,2025 at the apartment she has lived in for many years. Her niece Lisa was at her side. Kay was born on August 9th,1948 at Lutheran Hospital in Fort Wayne, IN to Donald William Schoenefeld Sr. and Helen Louise (Werling) Schoenefeld.

Kay grew up in Fort Wayne and attended Bethlehem Lutheran grade school while also going to church at Bethlehem. She was always an excellent student and graduated from Concordia H.S. as co-valedictorian. Kay was a very good athlete and was interested in playing or watching a number of sports. She was an excellent tennis player, winning a state title in her age group, and then winning a string of Fort Wayne City women’s tournaments, as well as winning City mixed doubles titles at the same time with her brother Don as her partner. She was later inducted into the Fort Wayne Tennis Hall of Fame. She would have been interested in basketball, volleyball and track in addition to tennis, but there wasn’t as much opportunity for girls to participate in school sports at the time she was growing up.

Music was always important in her life, and she showed her talent playing the piano and saxophone in addition to singing in choirs. In fact, she and three of her high school friends, the Beckman sisters, formed a saxophone quartet and auditioned for the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. They were accepted and went on national television competing on the Amateur Hour. They didn’t win but made a good showing.

After high school she went to Valparaiso University where she graduated with a physical education major and a math minor. Teaching tennis in the Fort Wayne City Parks was a summer job she had for several years, but after college she took a full-time job as a teaching tennis pro at Wildwood Racket Club in Fort Wayne. After obtaining a master’s degree in education, she left Fort Wayne to accept a teaching and coaching job in Chinle, AZ on the Navaho Indian reservation. After a number of years there, she followed up on her interest in math by going back to school at the University of Utah where she earned an additional undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. She used her engineering education to get a job at Sandia Corporation in Albuquerque, NM, and she then went back to school at Purdue University in Indiana where she earned a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. She left Sandia after a few years taking another job in the engineering field as a consultant where she was able to work from home some of the time. In addition, she taught math courses at the University of New Mexico. She continued to work until fairly recently.

Over the years in the southwest, Kay continued participating in sports by playing on competitive volleyball teams and playing tennis with friends. Having a dog as a companion was always important to her. Worried about dying before her current dog, Rusty, she was very relieved to have her friend, Paula, take him in. She was always trying to help those who were less fortunate by working through her church or helping them on her own. She was generous with her time and money.

Kay was preceded in death by her parents, as well as John Hunnicutt who Helen married sometime after her husband Donald passed away. She is survived by her brother Don (Carole) Schoenefeld, her niece Lisa Newsome (Trace McGuffey), and her nephew Bret (Jennie) Schoenefeld. Also surviving are Lisa’s children Taylor Newsome, Dylan Sullivan and Avery Newsome and Bret’s children Lena and Ian Schoenefeld. She is also survived by the many friends she made over the years in both Chinle, AZ and Tijeras, NM.

A private Celebration of Life will be held by the family in Fort Wayne.

Memorials in Kay’s memory to be made to St. Paul Lutheran Church for the Adopted Family Program.