Memorial Service Planned in Florida for Terri Schiavo’s Father Robert Schindler

Bioethics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Sep 14, 2009   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Memorial Service Planned in Florida for Terri Schiavo’s Father Robert Schindler

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
September 14
, 2009

St. Petersburg, FL (LifeNews.com) — A memorial service has been planned for Robert Schindler, the late father of Terri Schiavo. Terri is the disabled woman whose estranged husband subjected her to a painful 13-day starvation and dehydration death after courts prevented Schindler from becoming her guardian and providing her care.

Schindler passed away late last month after battling health issues and he died of apparent heart failure.

In the aftermath of Terri’s euthanasia death, Robert Schindler started a foundation with the rest of his family to help other disabled patients.

The Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation would connect patients or their families to legal help, physicians and pro-life groups who would speak out on their behalf to obtain basic medical care or lifesaving medical treatment denied to them by the government, hospitals or family members.

Schindler will be honored in a special Memorial Service scheduled for later this week.

The Memorial Service is scheduled for Friday, September 18, 2009, at 6 p.m. It will be held at the Most Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church located at 5800 Fifteenth Avenue South in Gulfport, Florida. The public is invited to attend.

Schindler’s family held an official funeral mass and burial for him last week in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he grew up.

"My Dad wanted to be buried in his hometown," says Schindler’s only son, Bobby. "But he lived much of his life in Florida, we wanted to make sure people there have a chance to honor his life and say goodbye."

It was also in Florida where Robert Schindler and his family fought a long, exhausting battle to prevent doctors from removing his daughter, Terri Schiavo’s feeding tube.

"My Dad never sought to become famous or to be labeled an ‘activist,’" says Bobby Schindler. "He got that title by simply fighting for what he believed in – something precious to him – my sister, Terri."

In February, Schindler pleaded with the father of Eluana Englaro not to give up on his daughter’s recovery.

"Although we come from two different continents with different cultures, we do have many things in common. We both are fathers and we both have been gifted by the same God with children," Schindler wrote to Beppino Englaro.

"We both have a child that suffered severe brain injuries. I know very well the profound effect this type of injury can have on our loved one and their families. We both have experienced the same misfortune and hardships," he added.

Schindler died knowing the love of God and with a strong faith as a member of the Catholic Church — a faith he expressed to Beppino.

"God gave you and I the responsibility to instill morals in our children and to keep them out of harm’s way. To starve and dehydrate your daughter is far from God’s wishes." he said.

Condolences and donations for the Foundation can be sent to: Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, 5562 Central Avenue, Suite 2, St. Petersburg, FL, 33707.

Related web sites:
Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation – https://www.TerrisFight.org

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