Mary Lou Schaechter

Mary Lou Schaechter, 82, of Moline, IL, passed from this world to the next on Friday, October 13, 2017, at Hope Creek Care Center, East Moline, IL.  Her path was paved with kind words and good deeds.

Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, October 21, 2017, at Esterdahl Mortuary & Crematory, Ltd., 6601 38th Avenue, Moline.  Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. with a rosary to be recited at 4 p.m., Friday, October 20, 2017, at the funeral home.  Burial will be at St. John’s Cemetery, Viola, IL.  Memorials may be made to Rock Island County Animal Care and Control.

She was born July 9, 1935, to John G. Rieke and Verda V. Ruefer Rieke in Davenport, IA.  She married Charles R. “Bob” Schaechter on May 2, 1959, at St. Alphonsus Church, Davenport, IA.

She is survived by her husband of 58 years, Charles Schaechter; daughters, Cecilia O’Brien (Pat), Moline, IL, Melita Tunnicliff (Scott), Bettendorf, IA; sons, David, Moline, IL, Jim (Susan), Cumming, GA, and Joe (Susie), Moline, IL; 5 grandchildren, Kelly Sidor (Jeff), Anna Tunnicliff (Neil), Philip C. Tunnicliff, Rebecca Schaechter, and Kate Schaechter; great grandchild, Owen P. Sidor; sister, Judy Bitterman, Davenport, IA.

Mary Lou’s accomplishments were vast and varied.  She graduated in the upper tenth of Davenport High.  As a teenager, she bred and raised pure bred white collie dogs with her lawyer/employer.  At age 16, she bought a basement home and sold it a year later at 100% profit.  At age 18, she bought a 2-bedroom home in her aunt’s name, furnished it, changed it to her name at age 21, and sold it at a profit.  Mary Lou was no.1 of 5000 persons who took the exam for postmaster’s secretary.  She was appointed secretary to the Davenport Postmaster.  She helped establish the FISH and STARFISH organizations consisting of several hundred volunteers to assist persons in need of emergency aid.  As Director, Mary Lou gave speeches.  She helped establish Home Away From Home, a home for 18-21 year old boys on parole.  She served as Treasurer and councilor.  She also helped establish the Quad City Food Co Op to assist low income families.  Mary Lou helped an elderly woman for over 20 years with banking, cleaning and painting.  Her doctor said she saved her life three times.  With her husband, Mary Lou was speaker couple for Pre-Cana sessions for engaged couples.  She took care of a baby girl whenever her mother was ill.  She housed a single mother with her six-week old baby and 5-year old girl when they were homeless.  She cared for a six month old baby who was dying, she became well and thrived.  She also cared for twin babies for a week.  She saved a friend from being strangled by her boyfriend.  Mary Lou had a large organic garden and raised many varieties of Iris and Lilies.  She wrote a short story of a German war bride as she lived during war time Germany.  She also wrote personal stories about Rock River floods and over 300 memoirs about her early life while a member of the Writer’s Group.  She had a story printed in “Reminisce” magazine.  She became a certified braillist and brailled a three act French play and several newspaper articles.  Mary Lou attended the Christian Family Movement convention at Notre Dame.  She was Secretary for the Peoria Catholic Diocese CFM.  She taught Leadership/Sensitivity courses.  Mary Lou became a skilled belly dancer and sewed her own costume.  She operated a seamstress business, making dresses for women and children and a suit for her husband.  She helped design and sew an original children’s clothing line for a clothing manufacturer.  Mary Lou did extensive genealogy research and typed information for others.  She delivered hundreds of loaves of donated bread and chicken necks to those in need.  She distributed a hundred pairs of donated shoes.  Mary Lou sang in the “Messiah” for two years.  She also sang with the Sweet Adelines Chorus.  She sang with her father’s band while she was a teenager.  Mary Lou sold Avon products and later Mary Kay Products.  She was a legal secretary, an account secretary for an advertising agency, a Manager’s Secretary for IBM Corporation, and a secretary for a temporary office service company.  Mary Lou was an Executive Assistant to the President of a lighting company.  She also raised five beautiful children.  Last but far from least, was her ability – for which she took no credit – to remove pain from those who suffered.  She was often able to remove the cause of the illness.