NEW LONDON - Bruce “Leo” Kehrer-Schneider was an avid bicyclist and a “wonderful individual” who will be missed at the Little Crow Country Club where he worked.
Kehrer-Schneider, 62, of rural New London, died Tuesday afternoon in a bicycle-motor vehicle crash in rural New London.
Kehrer-Schneider was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, according to a release from the Kandiyohi County Sheriff’s Office.
The vehicle was driven by Michael Schammel, 35, of rural Spicer, who was not injured.
Both the bicycle and vehicle were traveling west when the collision occurred shortly after 1 p.m. Tuesday on County Road 29 north of Lake Florida.
The crash is still under investigation, according to a release from the Sheriff’s Office.
Kehrer-Schneider and his 20-mile bicycle commute to work was the subject of a feature story in the West Central Tribune in 2005.
At the time, he pedaled the 40-mile round trip to and from Prairie Lakes Youth Detention Center in Willmar as much of the year as he could. He was director of transitional living for youth at Prairie Lakes.
Kehrer-Schneider had already been commuting by bicycle for nine years when he was interviewed in 2005.
Since 2008, he had been a full-time seasonal employee of the Little Crow Country Club, said manager Sam Drodofsky.
Kehrer-Schneider took care of greens at the golf course. “He took great pride in making sure the greens were in great shape,” Drodofsky said.
Kehrer-Schneider was a friendly guy who was popular with the golfers and others at the country club, he said. “He’s going to be missed.”
In 2005, Kehrer-Schneider said, “It is a good way to treat the earth nicely,’’ when asked why he started biking instead of driving.
An environmentalist first of all, Kehrer-Schneider said he began his bicycle commute to avoid spewing vehicle emissions into the air. He also felt he served as a positive model for the young people he worked with each day.
While he used trails to get to work, he said in 2005, he often returned home on paved county roads, which offered more hills and a better workout.
