George Henri Schneeberger

Wilmington, VT – George Henri Schneeberger passed away at the age of 92 on Friday February 9th while at Bay State Medical Center in Springfield, MA. George was born June 27, 1931 in Moutier, Switzerland to Emile and Germaine (Romy) Schneeberger. During his childhood he lived and attended schools in the French speaking town of Court. He initially became familiar with the machining trade while working at his father’s shop which specialized in making parts for the Swiss watch industry. After secondary school, he enrolled in a machine tool apprenticeship program at the Andre Bechler company in Moutier and upon completion accepted a position as a Sales Engineer for Bechler in the United States. In 1952, at the age of 20, George set off for New York City to sell and service the machines that he had learned so much about.

He was based in New York, but his work with Bechler brought him to numerous areas of the country where he made lifelong friends while learning the English language and experiencing new cultures. On November 15, 1957 he became a US citizen of which he was very proud. He spent many of his weekends in Wilmington at a dairy farm belonging to fellow Swiss natives Charlie & Viola Beuche. Vermont reminded him of the region in Switzerland where he grew up and in 1958, when he decided to go into business for himself, he chose to do so in Wilmington.

G.S. Machine Works was started in a small building along the Deerfield River and produced tooling for Bechler machines as well as custom machined parts. As it grew, the name was changed to G.S. Precision and a new facility was built on Route 9. Eventually the business would expand to Brattleboro, Mexico and Keene, NH and employ more than 700 people. When talking about the growth, George usually referred to the number of employees rather than revenue or profit because that was most important to him. His standards for quality and productivity were high and he was considered by many as demanding, but he cared deeply for all of his employees and their families.

In 1963 a young nurse from Germany was moving to New York for a job and George was asked by a mutual acquaintance to show her around the city. That nurse was Krimhilde Ziegler and in July of 1966 they were married in Wilmington. Together they had two sons, Norman and Raymond. George was very proud that they both became involved in the family business. George and Hilde were married for 56 years until her passing in 2022. They enjoyed travelling together and had fond memories of trips to places around the world.

While his life was certainly centered around the business, George had many other interests, and shared them with his family. He was proud of his Swiss heritage and exposed others to it through food, drink and music. He and Hilde always had a bountiful vegetable garden. He enjoyed hunting and fishing and spent a great deal of time in the woods and on the water with his sons. For many years he raced sail boats on Harriman Reservoir with the Windham Sailing Club. When he was able to take a step back from his work he purchased the Bueche farm, where he and Hilde would eventually reside, and raised beef cattle and sheep. He especially enjoyed hiking and mountain climbing and was a member of the Swiss Alpine Club. In 1989, at the age of 58, he completed a lifelong dream of climbing the Matterhorn to its summit.

George was a generous, technically brilliant, driven and outgoing man. He was also a loving husband, father and grandfather. In addition to Hilde, he was predeceased by his brother Francis. He is survived by sons Ray and Norm, Norm’s partner Lindsay Kessen, and grandchildren Hunter, Nicole, Mia and Madison. He will be greatly missed by all.

There will be a celebration of life at a time and place to be announced. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Brattleboro Memorial Hospital Development Fund