Known for his positive vibe and big smile that can brighten anyone's day, Tami said Schoenfelder has been dearly missed at the pool tournaments lately. “He was there for me and my husband when there was some health issues on our side, and we are going to be here for him.” He’s dedicated so much time to pool, and we owe it to him to keep this business going strong,” Tami said of Schoenfelder. “He has been a dear friend of ours forever, and this is the least we could do. But his longtime friends, Jim Winter and Tami Winter, have kept it running smoothly while Schoenfelder is going through rounds of chemotherapy. However, since he’s been battling pancreatic cancer over the past three months, Schoenfelder hasn’t been able to run the business lately. Schoenfelder and his staff annually trek to the national USA Pool League Championships in Las Vegas, where they help keep some of the world’s best pool players equipped during the tournament. When he’s not squaring off against opponents on the pool tables, Schoenfelder is running the business, traveling hundreds of miles to state tournaments in North Dakota and Minnesota, to name a few of the regional areas he services.
He jumped at the opportunity in 1993 to form the pool business, Cue Sales and Service, which now has a regional and national presence. With his wealth of experience as a pool player, Schoenfelder found a unique way to put it to good use and open a business that offers pool cue repair work. “Nowadays, there are kids who start so young and have so much more knowledge at their fingertips.” Schoenfelder’s pool cue business marches on That’s what I call a learning experience,” a chuckling Schoenfelder said. “Back in the day when I first started playing sanctioned tournaments, sometimes you just had to wish and wing it. The self-taught pool player began competitively playing when he was 20, getting a much later start than most of his opponents and teammates.īut he wasn’t going to let that barrier keep him from running the tables at local and state pool tournaments. Among the long list of achievements he’s made as a pool player, Schoenfelder said bringing the state pool tournament championship in doubles home to Mitchell is one of his most memorable moments.Īlthough many top ranked pool players in the state were raised around the sport from an early age, learning the game from their parents and siblings, Schoenfelder’s journey into billiards was different. In his 40-year playing career, Schoenfelder has notched state tournament team championships for Mitchell’s pool squad, along with consistently placing in the top five in singles style play. “It’s an opportunity people don’t always get, and I am just so thankful for the Mitchell community.” “Seeing the comradery of everyone coming together for me has brought me more joy than I can ever explain,” he said. During the fun run, Team Schoeny supporters raised a little over $9,000 as well. The most recent community effort to help the Schoenfelder family cover medical expenses was the “Schoeny” poker tournament that was held on Saturday at Big Dummy’s Bar in downtown Mitchell, which generated a little more than $10,000. From a community fun run that drew hundreds of runners, and a recent poker tournament, Schoenfelder has witnessed an outpouring of support from his friends and family over the past few months. While he’s been in and out of the hospital battling pancreatic cancer since March, the community of Mitchell has been rallying around him in ways he never could have imagined. With his recent induction into the state’s Billiards Hall of Fame, Schoenfelder will now be on the receiving end of those hand shakes, as he joined the list of elite pool players that he’s always looked up to over the years.
I always loved running into some of the Hall of Famers at tournaments to shake their hands.” “Those are the biggest accomplishments in my life. It goes right up there with marrying my wife and the birth of my kids and winning my first state pool tournament,” an emotional Schoenfelder said while donning a “Team Schoeny” shirt. “It was an incredible honor to be able to receive that. For Schoenfelder, of Mitchell, the day he received the honor ranks up there with the best days of the 60-year-old’s life. After devoting 40 years of his life to the game of pool, Schoenfelder was recently inducted into the South Dakota Billiards Hall of Fame.
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