The Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA honors a prominent businesswoman and well-respected civic leader in Cranberry Township and Butler County.

Schneider was a construction executive, cattle breeder, civic leader and the first woman to be named Pennsylvania Cattleman of the Year by the Pennsylvania Cattlemen's Association.

Schneider died in October 2001, losing a yearlong battle with cancer. She was 68.

The Schneider family owned the property that the new Cranberry facility is located and is a major contributor to the project.

Born in Rosslyn Farms, she and her husband, Harold Sr., had moved to Cranberry Township in 1985.

They had married in 1950 and soon started H.J. Schneider Construction.

The couple had three sons, Harry, David and Daniel and a daughter, Connie.

The Schneiders first lived in Green Tree, but in the mid-1960s, they acquired the first piece of what would become Rolling Ridge Farms, a 900-acre tract in Concord Township.

The farm became a strip-mine reclamation model for students at Penn State University and Ohio State University.

Schneider's primary interest was breeding animals. She won the cattlemen's award in 1986.

She played a role in the township's development, working for years with the Cranberry Chamber of Commerce, including serving a term as president. She was also a member of the Cranberry Arts Council and the finance council of St. Ferdinand Roman Catholic Church.

Schneider at various times served as a trustee of Slippery Rock University, a director of the Butler County Endowment Fund, a director of the Butler County Drug and Alcohol Abuse Center, and a member of the Butler County Government Center Building Advisory Committee.