C. Michael Schneider, a City of Falls Church resident and member of its Democratic Committee, died Feb. 14 at the Inova Hospital in Fairfax at age 70.

He’d suffered from non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Schneider had been a State Department diplomat and later an economic analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency.

Falls Church resident Charles Langalis, likewise a CIA careerist and F.C. City Democratic Committee member, wrote the following reminiscence of Schneider:

“Among family and close friends, ‘Uncle Chuck’ was a forever entertaining and informative person to be around. He was a master of the art of charcoal grilling, a connoisseur of fine wines and cheese. His “Civil War buff” dimension was not mere avocational but rather that of the serious student of the war’s historical facets. His knowledge of the Battle of Gettysburg in particular was notably detailed.

“Mr. Schneider was ‘a bear’ for grammatical correctness, a hallmark of high standing in the Intelligence Analysis hierarchy, as well as an attribute of his wide range of intellectual curiosities, including music, art, literature, sports, politics and foreign languages.

“Mr. Schneider was a familiar figure at the Saturday Farmer’s Markets on Park Avenue entrance during elections campaign season, as a member of the city’s Democratic Party committee. His always bright outlook on life and the world, warm and friendly, affable nature were well recalled as well at last Saturday’s memorial service here. That gathering’s spirits left elevated by the many shared recollections of Mr. Schneider’s habitually keen and, more often than not, off-the-wall sense of humor.”

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Charles Michael Schneider was a graduate of the University of Cincinnati, where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society. He worked at a bank in Cincinnati before moving to Washington, where he joined the State Department in 1966. He was consular officer in Canada and an economics officer in Austria before joining the CIA in 1981.

He was an economic analyst at the agency’s Langley headquarters most of his time there, except for a three-year stint in Germany in the 1990s. He retired in 2001, but continued to do contract work for the agency until last year.

He was a fan of his hometown Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Redskins.

Survivors include his wife of 48 years, Nancy Smith Schneider of Falls Church, and three children, Michael B. Schneider of Reston, Leslie S. Daley of Fairfax City, and Susan S. Eddy of Manassas. He is also survived by a brother, Thomas Schneider of Potomac and four grandchildren.