Kyle Nathan Schneider was born to Quentin and Nancy Schneider in Aurora, Illinois on September 14, 1964. His sister, Sharyl, was soon to be two years old. A brother, Corey Allen, and another sister, Trenna Marie, would come along a few years later to complete the family.

Kyle was a normal kid, somewhat sensitive, blond, (his siblings were all firey red-heads owing to the genes of his two red-headed grandmothers) and strong. He had a somewhat lazy right eye and was left-handed. He wore glasses, often taped together at the nosepiece because, after all, he was a mini-kid and his parents were not wealthy. He was easily startled by sharp noises and rarely raised his voice.

It should be mentioned that he , as an early teen, impressed the Howells of Bensenville's Plentywood Farm. His mentor there was a specialist in Steak Diane. He also learned to prepare food tableside and to cook steak by touch. Kyle liked his steak cooked so the cow could heal. He was 14 years old.

His Aunt Kay gave him some valuable training in martial arts and he became a quick study doing well in competition up to the state level. As a developing teen, he became interested in body-building and, together with a very attractive young lady, won a first place in a noobie couples body-building competition at the state level. He nearly destroyed his kidneys when training for that competition. Kyle was regarded as charming and good-looking in his long blond hair. If you were female, you didn't stand a chance.

Late in high school, he took a dare in which he enrolled in a course in Home Economics. Think about the girls in the same class. His instructor was pretty persuasive and Kyle learned his way around the kitchen. He took top honors in state culinary competitions with a blistering diablo sauce and a lobster thermidor.

As a developing young man he joined a drum and bugle corps. He had a tin ear but enjoyed and played at music. His knowledge of bands from the 50s was close to encyclopaedic. He played the bass guitar. In his later life he would become friends with some quite notable people in the music business. Dennis DeYoung and other members of Styx come to mind.

Kyle was creeping up on age 19 and soon to be sous chef at The Flame in Countryside, Illinois. He honed his business sense at Lonestar Steakhouse, a chain of restaurants located in the nation's southwest and in the Chicago area.