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MARCH 6, 2020
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Angels among us
Photo courtesy of Christina Dalton
Duane and Sue Schnittker adopted Brentwood as their hometown 40 years ago, and have made it a better place through their advocacy for victims of Parkinson’s Disease.
East Contra Costa County is empowered with people who continually give back to our cities. It is almost as if there are angels planted among us. Such is the story of Dr. Duane and Sue Schnittker. The Schnittkers journeyed to California from Kansas, inspired by the opportunity of an internship after the completion of Duane’s senior year in veterinary school. With the chance to work with all species, including exotic animals, at a renowned veterinary practice in southern California, Duane accepted an internship in Thousand Oaks. After three years, the Schnittkers moved to Stockton, where they first fell in love with Brentwood. In the late ’70s and early ’80s, Brentwood was not that different from their hometowns in Kansas. Farmland and large animals were common sights, and Sue and Duane felt right at home. Duane became a partner in the only local veterinary practice, and Sue made her mark every day as a teacher in the Brentwood Union School District. She
laid the groundwork for a new group of kindergarten students every year for 25 years, while Duane developed a very successful veterinary practice. Each earned the respect of their colleagues and the community for their dedication and love for what they did. It’s about commitment and passion. Little were they aware that their commitment and passion would translate to their current world of battling Parkinson’s disease (PD). At the age of 53, Duane began to experience early symptoms of the disease. PD, a progressive nervous system disorder, slowly but effectively destroys the motor skills and certain nonmotor skills of its victims. Duane, an active athlete, realized it was taking him longer and longer to complete tasks, whether at work or at home. He was not experiencing the tremors that are most often associated with PD; he was experiencing a phenomena known as micrographia, which casued his handwriting to become smaller and smaller. After his diagnosis, Duane was able to maintain his practice for an-
other seven years, until his symptoms caused so much stiffness, he was unable to perform the fine work required of a veterinarian. Sue and Duane knew that being active mentally and physically were not just the key ingredients to staying young as they aged, but a critical combination in the battle against PD. Duane played tennis and golfed regularly, but those sports became increasingly difficult to pursue. In November 2015, close friends mentioned a television segment they had watched on a program designed specifically for PD patients. Leslie Stahl, the CBS newscaster infamous on 60 Minutes, did a Sunday morning segment promoting Rock Steady Boxing (RSB) as an important aspect of her husband’s fight against PD. Sue and Duane approached Joseph Garcia, a local boxing gym owner, to gauge his interest in bringing Rock Steady Boxing to Brentwood. At the time, the only Bay area RSB programs were in Woodside, San Francisco and
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