Obituaries

November 10, 1929 to January 15, 2021

LAPORTE – Nancy O’Connor O’Neill Schindler, 91, passed away Friday, Jan. 15, in LaPorte.

She was born Nov. 10, 1929 on her parents’ farm in Pulaski County to the late Edward and Marie Costello O’Connor. She married John O'Neill of Chicago in 1952. He was killed in a car accident in March of 1955. She later married Ferdinand Schindler in October 1968. He also preceded her in death in 2016.

She is survived by her son, Patrick (Tam) O'Neill; four grandchildren, Emily Webster Nozawa, Madi Webster Ashour, Miles Webster, and Hannah O'Neill, and two great-grandchildren, Rose Marie Nozawa and Theodore Nozawa; all of whom reside in Colorado.

She was preceded in death by all of her siblings in birth order, Francis, Joan (Render), Richard, Ellen (Essling) Timothy, and her daughter, Mary O’Neill Webster.

Mrs. Schindler contracted polio in 1945 and walked with the aid of a leg brace and crutches until moving to a wheelchair in the last few years. While living in Indiana, she had part-time jobs with the South Bend Tribune as a reporter and as a secretary at the county welfare office. She was also active in local Democratic politics. She met Ferdinand Schindler in Winamac, and after their marriage, the couple residined in Michigan City. She wrote a column in the weekly newspaper, The Beacher for about 15 years called “The Culinary Corner,” ostensibly about recipes but mostly about her observations of life. The couple retired to Colorado Springs in 1987 to be near her children and grandchildren. Shortly after her daughter Mary passed in 2007, the Schindlers moved into an assisted living facility in Denver, where he passed in 2016.
She loved all animals. She was active in knitting, gardening, reading, writing, swimming, travel and politics.

Visitation will be from 9 to 10 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 26, at St. Peter’s Church in Winamac. A burial mass will follow at 10 a.m., at the church.

Please make any donations in her name to your local Dumb Friends League.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Essling Funeral Home, LaPorte.