Nancy (O'Connor/O'Neill) Schindler

November 10, 1929 – January 15, 2021

Born on her parents farm in Pulaski County, Indiana, she was predeceased by her father Edward O’Connor, mother Marie (nee Costello) O’Connor, all of her siblings in birth order, Francis, Joan (Render), Richard, Ellen (Essling) Timothy, two husbands, John O’Neill and Ferdinand Schindler, and her daughter, Mary Webster (O’Neill).

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

Nancy 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.  She married John O’Neill of Chicago in 1952.  They had two children before John was killed in a car accident in March of 1955. 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, Indiana and they married in October of 1968, residing in Michigan City, Indiana. 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.

Nancy and Ferd 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 Ferd passed in 2016.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. EST, Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at St. Peter Catholic Church, 401 N. Monticello St, Winamac, Indiana 46996, where visitation will be held from 9 a.m. EST until 10 a.m. EST.  Burial will follow at St. Peter Cemetery in Winamac. 

Arrangements have been entrusted to Frank L. Keszei Funeral Home, Essling Chapel in La Porte, Indiana. Please share prayers, condolences, and memories for the family at EsslingFuneralHome.com.

She loved all animals. She was active in knitting, gardening, reading, writing, swimming, travel and politics. Please make any donations in her name to your local Dumb Friends League.

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