In Memory of Wendie Schoessler

Wendie Diane Schoessler (nee Johnson)

August 20 1949 – April 1 2025

From her Son, Toby:

“My Mom. You are a LEGEND. 52 years of our lives spent together. From my earliest memory of you giving a bath to me in the kitchen sink, to you supporting me in jail. To you teaching me how to plant flowers at age 6, to me telling you “What, am I, 6 years old?!” when I was 40 because you were always looking out for your baby boy. You are a Hero to me…Too many stories to tell. But this, from the ones whom loved you, I feel is properly giving homage to you being a “Special Human” in every person you touched. I hope to be like you when I grow up. Love your son, YBOT.”

She is her Son, Toby’s, Number 1 fan.

Wendie1again…so very true. Not just a great email address but a limitless power of suggestion. Wendie believed you visualize, project and manifest what you want and desire. Her mantra was “better and better every day in every way.”

We will deeply miss her sassy sarcasm, her deep caring for humanity and animals alike, her incredibly positive outlook on life (she was always that glass half-full kind of person), her kind and dexterous hands, and the energy and vitality that embodied her as an unstoppable force. It was appropriately stated by a dear friend, “You can’t tell the wind to stop blowing!” There is no truer statement about Wendie and this perfectly describes the essence of her personality. Her passion for adventure and life never swayed. She was an advocate for everyone and always encouraged people to follow their dreams…and did everything in her power to help them achieve their goals. She never stopped doing for others. Her heart smiled and it gave her a contagious glow. She turned every job she had into the job she wanted it to be and always improved the workplace. She was a powerhouse that created a better world even when life looked bleak.

As a child she loved her green plastic scarf and cowboy hat, and wore them with great pride. She drove her piano teacher nuts by turning classical into boogies because it was fun. That is how she approached life. Her favorite childhood memories included ocean fishing with her dad and when she got in trouble by tangling everyone else’s fishing lines she’d eat the raw bait. The fishing day would end with Clam Chowder at The Crab Cooker in Newport Beach. She loved listening to her mom play piano and beamed with pride when she would tell the story of how her mom chased after the mailman with a broomstick after he was mean to her dog, Ladybird. When it was bed time, to help her go to sleep, she would conduct her imaginary orchestras in the ceiling corners of her room.

From seamstress to musician to word processing to horseback riding and beyond, she amplified life and its best features.

Wendie always told her daughter that her 40s were her best years. She embraced change and ran with it. She gave up a lucrative career as a paralegal and started her dream career helping people with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries walk again via Hippotherapy, therapy via horseback. This was her passion and was unstoppable despite poverty, homelessness, and numerous negative obstacles. She never let anything get in her way.

She met her life partner and love of her life, Matt, in 1993. They challenged each other in every way and she encouraged Matt to follow his newfound dreams of becoming an equine veterinarian. Eventually his dreams became their dreams after he graduated they started a veterinary practice together. Wendie is the reason that Triple Oaks Equine even opened for business as she was gifted with vision and the capacity to bring her visions to fruition. Her contagious positive energy drew in so many clients and friends. Her laughter had a way of charging the soul. She was the spark that everyone needed.

She loved riding her Arabian horse, Destiny, in the East San Gabriel mountain foothills as well as hiking with friends and family in the Angeles National Forest. Her mother-in- law, Jane, quipped of her “you’re a walking placebo” because Wendie would say, “it’s just around the next curve” and a mile later they would get to the top of the trail. Her endless optimism and glass half-full attitude will remain engraved in our hearts.

From mini skirts and stilettos to equestrian riding pants and stove-top boots to jeans and cowboy boots to a Minnesota relaxed dress code she managed to make all the styles work.

A legacy to behold…this is the woman who could bring a smile to a stranger’s face, envelope them in kindness, and make them feel as if they were best friends or even family. Wendie was the queen of emoji texting and enjoyed her many texting “besties” (you all know who you are). Without question, she loved everyone of you. Not many truly understood the “Wendie humor,” some were utterly perplexed, but amused nonetheless. Those who were blessed to be apart of her circle never strayed far, and she was one to reach out and keep tabs on you. She had a driving compassion for life and the gift of sharing it with everyone. Her uncanny ability to empathize with others allowed her to help people to sort out their emotional, and often deeply personal, troubles. Everyone cherished the “walks” or “drives” because they were extremely therapeutic. If you were really struggling she would “task” you and push every button possible until the feelings came flooding out and the healing could begin. She was the one everyone wanted in their corner. Her advice was always genuine as was her interest in each individual she ever met. She believed in the Four Agreements (a book by Don Miguel Ruiz) and lived by them. She believed in the power of positivity and the power of YES. Her persistence was relentless. She was a dynamo. The word “No” was not in her vocabulary and the word “Almost”…well “there’s no such thing as almost! It either did happen or it didn’t.”-Wendie.

She had a plethora of careers and talents. Her enthusiasm and radiant energy made everyone gravitate to her. Wendie’s music was absolutely fantastical. She loved her Yamaha upright piano, but when she purchased her Korg synthesizer, her creative music world changed and the enjoyment she got from layering her songs was inspiring.

In her later years she spent a lot of time in her Bobcat track skid-steer loading and unloading hay, doing dirt work, moving corral panels and so much more. She LOVED that machine and if that wasn’t cathartic enough for her, she would get on her John Deere lawn mower and scare the neighborhood. She had NO boundaries. We all laughed when the mower would suddenly stop. She would either have a tractor chain in the blades, a chunk of wood lodged in the blades or be bottomed out somewhere on the North 40. The text would come in, “I need Green Bean and a chain” (Green Bean is the name of the 4-wheeler) and off we went to get her unstuck to continue her escapades on that hardy lawn mower. When she wasn’t outside constructing, mowing, or enjoying the horses, she was inside running the veterinary business and dancing to Tina Turner with the dogs.

She absolutely loved reading and writing. She wrote many wonderful stories, articles, books, poems and letters. No one could paraphrase like her. As I write this, I chuckle about how she would condense it down to three important sentences and have everyone get the entirety of what is taking me many paragraphs to convey.

She would probably say, “Wendie was an adventurous soul who showed great compassion for humanity, gave grace openly, believed in bygones and move on, helped others often, danced to her own beat, didn’t give a hoot what others thought, made others laugh, loved her family intensely, never stopped asking questions, never stopped learning, never stopped caring, laughed at herself, corrected her mistakes, and ALWAYS gave 110 percent even when she didn’t have it. She and Destiny, the unrivaled…grey Arabian horse she loved so very much, are together again on another adventure.” I love my best friend, navigator and Mother. She is ONE.

Proud Daughter of Emery F and Emma Jane (Boynton) Johnson. Baby Sister of Max Johnson and Janice Reese. Loving Mother of Toby Vasquez and Margaret Edie. Devoted wife of Matthew Schoessler. Born and raised in Southern California where she spent the first 50 years of her life, the remaining 25 years was spent on her property in Minnesota, she lovingly called “Heaven on the 47.”

There are so many friends and family that she cherished. Her pride in her grandchildren is unmatched. She loved watching them blossom into adults and encouraged them always to follow their dreams. She idolized her brother, Max, and sister, Janice and loved them dearly. She adored her many nieces and nephews. Her place was always neutral territory. She wanted everyone to embrace family and give grace to one another and practice bygones. That was the message right up until the end. May we all learn from her wisdom and take to heart that past is just that, the past. Moving forward, building a positive future is of the utmost importance and no matter what, love your family. Relationships take work and are constantly evolving.

To her husband Matt, she loved you fiercely. You constantly challenged her and she relished the challenge. You kept your word, set goals, accomplished them and to her, in her own words, “Matt is the love of my life.” She loved seeing the fire in your soul and had an unwavering passion for you. Her greatest desire was to see you succeed in your career and encouraged you always to follow your drive to better your knowledge and advance your skills. You and her cousin, Mike Boynton, always amazed her with your intellect, advanced vocabulary and love for guns.

To her son Toby, she always said, “He is either really great, or really bad, there is no in between. He’s the best person I know and should be a children’s lawyer because he is so gifted with children and would do anything to protect them. He is my favorite son. I am his number 1 fan.” She also repetitively told her daughter, “Toby is gifted with a spectacular artistic ability and sees the color spectrum in its entirety, he has the greatest eye for colors and shading.” She was excited to see him excel in the art and photography world. His art and photography brought immense joy to her life.

Her Daughter, Margaret, knows the depth of love she possessed for her family and that will go on for eternity.

To her best friend Mike, “HADDOCK!” Your comics, writing, quick wit and devilish, flippant humor entertained her beyond compare. She admired your musical compositions and loved listening to you play trumpet and saxophone. Publish your music and writings.

To all of our clients, “Give your horse a hug for me.”—Wendie

Beliefs, Actions and Attributes of Wendie’s:

Instill the wisdom of giving grace.

Embrace the often overwhelming energy. Keep on swimming, you’ve gotta have faith and there is always hope.

Lessons to learn: Be Positive. Be honest. Don’t judge for you don’t always know the whole story. Be kind. Help others always. Encourage others to follow their dreams and help them achieve them. Love unconditionally. Relationships take work. Learn to give grace (this was not put in this list a second time by mistake). Forgive often. Bygones — move on. Never stop progress. Read. Better yourself. Don’t procrastinate. Make it the job you want, the life you want. The glass is always half-full. Optimism. Laugh at yourself. Correct your mistakes and move on. If you don’t ask you don’t get. Empower others. Mentor others. Dance. Engage others. Take the risk. Communication is so important. Be a walking placebo. You can say anything with a smile. HUG! Keep your word.

Signing off for the last time…WDS Yes!