The Schneider family were white settlers of what is now Kitchener, Ontario. Members of the family are the descendants of Johann Christoph Schneider, who was born in Germany, in Unteröwisheim, Baden, on August 27, 1831. His father, a farmer, was also Johann Christoph Schneider; his mother was Margarethe Elizabeth Zoller. He left Germany in 1847 when he was sixteen years old and settled in Berlin, Ontario, where a substantial German settlement already existed. He worked as a carpenter and later as a mechanic, and by 1858 was a building contractor. He married Anna Elizabeth Metz on April 26, 1857. They had seven children, of whom John Metz Schneider, founder of the meat packing firm later known as the Schneider Corp., was the first. Johann Christoph died in December 20, 1900. He, along with his descendants, played active roles in business, politics, and the cultural and social life of what is today the Region of Waterloo.

Florence "Floss" Louisa Ahrens was born February 25, 1891 in Kitchener, Ontario, the daughter of Charles August Ahrens and Laura Emma Hirschey Ahrens. Florence worked for the family company, C.A. Ahrens Shoe Co., for 42 years. Outside of work she was 50-year member of the Kitchener-Waterloo Philharmonic Choir, as well as a member of both the K-W Business and Professional Women's Club and the Church of the Good Shepherd. She died November 7, 1982 at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital and was entombed at Woodland Cemetery.