Mary Ann Schlesinger

Mary Ann "Nan" O'Reilly Schlesinger of Springfield, MO was born on April 25, 1927 in Terre Haute, Indiana and died April 3, 2008 in St. John's Hospital.

Nan graduated from Elfindale St. de Chantal Academy in 1945 and later attended Drury College. She worked as an office assistant to a physician in St. Louis for a number of years and in motel management in Joplin, MO. She was married to Henry "Hank" Schlesinger. Hank and Nan enjoyed living in Yelapa, Mexico near Puerto Vallarta where they welcomed friends and family members into their home for many years. Nan was preceded in death by her loving husband, Hank Schlesinger, beloved parents, Clara Scheiper O'Reilly and Charles F. O'Reilly, sisters, Sr. Mary Antonia O'Reilly, Mary Louise O'Reilly Arnold, and Claire Marie O'Reilly Koch, brothers, Michael Byrne O'Reilly, Joseph F. O'Reilly, and Charles H. "Chub" O'Reilly, nephew, Dennis O'Reilly, niece, Kelly O'Reilly Ray and great niece, Colleen O'Reilly.

Nan is survived by two brothers, John O'Reilly of Springfield and Tony O'Reilly of Lebanon, MO, and sister, Catherine O'Reilly Anderson of Springfield. Aunt Nan will be fondly remembered by 30 nieces and nephews and many other young family members.

A Memorial Mass will be held at 11 a.m. Monday April 7, 2008 in the chapel at St. Agnes Cathedral with Fr. Mike McDevitt celebrant. Committal services will follow at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery under the care of Herman H. Lohmeyer Funeral Home. No visitation is planned.

In lieu of flowers, please make contributions honoring Nan's memory to the Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks, The Kitchen or Greene County Humane Society. Online condolences can be shared at www.hhlohmeyer.com.

Nan's memorial,

Catherine asked if I might say a few words today, and I said that would be glad too. My first thought was to enlist the help of other family members, and so I have complied some of our personal memories of Nan and Hank.

Growing up, I remember Nan was always eager to come down to our level and get in on whatever you happened to be playing at. She was always laughing and smiling at us as children. Whenever we were rambunctious, she was very tolerant and always the last person to call you down. Everyone was graced by her birthday and Holidays cards, in her perfect and very elegant handwriting. As I grew up, my own children received the same affection as I did. Whenever we visited Hank and Nan, she would always have a little present for the girls. Not much, just a shiny smiley face pin or button, or some other cool do-dad, that kids love. For awhile, she was on a kick with these pens, a writing pen on one end and in soap and bubble blower at the other. The girls would get one every time they saw her. I can remember coming home from family gatherings, the car full of tiny bubbles, accompanied by so much laughing and giggling, that Terri and I overlooked the soap dripping down on the seats.

Now, truth be told, there was another side to Nan. As everyone knows she could be a bit cantankerous, and she, at times, would speak her mind. I often thought about her motivations, and I discovered, that as much as Nan wanted other people to be happy, she wanted to be happy too. And, if you happened to be in a position to possibly help augment her happiness, she was inclined to ask. When Hank and Nan moved to Lebanon, I was not in the loop, until one evening Dad said, "well I guess we better go help unload the truck" and I said "What truck?", I don't think even Hank and Nan were in the loop, given Nan's reaction to the new abode and it�s location. Although the house had fresh carpet and paint, which I pointed out to Nan, it was surrounded on three sides by mobile homes. After I spent most of the next day unloading a truck that I previously, didn't even know existed, Nan asked me what I was going to do about the view. I told her "Well, don't look out the front window". Neither of us was laughing at the time, but apparently she took it to heart. Soon after, at her back door, with the help of a large bag of corn, 50 plus turkeys began to visit Nan every morning and every evening. She became quite attached to those turkeys and, I am sure, had anyone even mentioned "turkey dinner", they would have needed their happiness augmented.

Cissy writes: The thing I remember most about Nan was how worldly and mysterious she was to me as a young kid...always dressed elegantly and looking great with beautifully done hair and nails. Once, she told me I had very nicely defined half moons on my fingernails and I was in hog heaven! To this day, I think of it. Matt and I loved to visit her in St. Louis when we were little. Of course, sun tanning had a high priority in the days activities. And there was that crazy bus trip Shawn and I took to visit her in Yelapa. Living in Mexico seemed such an exotic thing for an aunt to do but that was the mysterious aura of Nan. It was the first time we met Hank too. He was a feisty, outspoken guy. I remember Shawn holding her own with him but I was a little scared! One thing was for sure, she was crazy about him. She was a good aunt and I'll miss her but I have a lot of happy memories to hang on to.

Joe writes: You may have already thought to mention Irish. He was a great dog to take for a walk. When other dogs would come out yapp'n at him, he'd let out a friendly but deep "woof" and they'd pretty much high tail back to the house. Not to mention "his" pet cat. Nan was always very proud of him. He was a the exact opposite of Prince (??). That little black chiwawa that she had.

Erin writes, after reading the above: We inherited prince, and he use to bite out fingers! I ditto Cissy's memories about Nan's elegance, she was like a "movie star aunt" with her fancy sunglasses, hairdos, painted nails and beautiful penmanship. I cherished the many beautifully written and decorated cards she sent to us for our special occasions, even when we were quite young.

Shawn wrote of a childhood memory of when Nan sent her Betsy McCall paper dolls for her 7th birthday, and of the wonderful memories of the trip she, Mike and Abba took to Yelpa. She also remembers how close Nan was to all the sister's-in-law--Emily, Isabell, Jeanie and Lucille.

Kathleen writes: My heart is broken right now and I can't think of the many wonderful times with Aunt Nan, other than Irish making sure he let Kelly's cat Dingo know who was boss when Nan visited. She brought such love to us. Tuesday, Nan made sure she had her hair done before John came to visit. She had on a pink-striped shirt that brought out her beautiful blue eyes, and she looked so very, very pretty. She made every attempt to have a smile on her face, despite her feeling lower than lousy. She was so happy to see John, and she so loved her family. We know that she sent all of you the liittle treats...the ornaments, the stickers, liittle cars to Shea, Nan had the knack of staying connected. I don't know how you say that, but what a gift it is.

Julia writes: My earliest and maybe fondest of many fond memories of Nan involves the adventure of our family traveling to St. Louis (the Big City!) to see her, and being allowed to go 'shopping' with her alone when I was about 5 or 6. She took me downtown, and we tried on hats and gloves and dresses, just like we were both grownups, and we went Christmas shopping for Mom and Dad. She took me seriously even then, and that hallmark of respect down the years is the thing I most treasure. She was the only person I knew who could tease my Dad mercilessly, and make him squirm and then grin about it.

Abba writes: Nan was fascinating to me when I was a child, the way she lived in St. Louis and wore black clothes and a white turban. I went with Shawn to stay with Nan in Yelapa the summer before 5th grade. Her house on the hill has always had a special place in my imaginations. We went down to the beach in the mornings, and in the afternoons, I went through her Readers Digest collection lying in the hammock on the side of the house, watching the land crabs march sideways up the hill every afternoon. One day she helped me make orange and purple sand candles, my favorite colors at the time, and when I accidentally spilled a pan of purple wax all over the stove, quite a mess, she didn't make me feel bad about it at all. It felt good to read about Yelapa in Aunt Nan's obituary, and I like to think of Nan, out of pain and happy now with Hank in some other Yelapa.

Patricia writes: what i remember about nan when i was a child is how glamorous she seemed. even lately, when she was so ill, she always looked great, all dolled-up, as mom might have said. she was a great letter and card writer, too, with such distinctive and beautiful handwriting. she could be so charming and fun, so that when she got a little dig in at someone, it was just funny. of course, I think a lot of people couldn't have gone through what she did, and come out of it as well and with such style.

Paula wrote: a particular memory I have is of Nan staying on west Sunshine & she , Julia and I were sleeping on the front porch in the fold out couch, if you can imagine. Julia and I were about 10& 12 and we thought it would be great excitement to get up in the middle of the night and go outside. I remember Nan joining in with enthusiasm and dancing with us in the moonlight, by the mimosa tree, that was sooo Nan.

Dave writes: The thing that comes to mind is a trip Mary and I were on going to California back in the late 70's or early 80's.We are traveling west in I40 and came up behind a full size Pontiac and all I could see in the back was a huge dog. Turned out to be Irish. Back then I had a cb radio and I got on and said is that you Hank? Nothing for a little bit then he came back and asked who was asking and we had a short conversation and finally pulled over and we found a place to eat. They had stayed in the same Holiday Inn we stayed in Tecumcaria NM and we didn't even know it. They actually had just come back from renewing their Visa's and were headed back to Mexico

Greg writes One of my oldest recollections I have about Nan: At Mom's house, Gus and I were in the kitchen, sitting at the table. I remember Gus jumping up and looking out the front windows, like the place was on fire. Nan had just turned into the driveway, driving her new '61 Chevy, seemed like it was that light green color. Gus bolted for the front door, with me chasing behind (I still didn't know what all the commotion was about). Gus was in awe of the new car. I remember Nan was pretty nonchalant about the car, just a way to get from here to there. Being 1961, Nan would have been 34 years old, Gus 17, and Greg 5.

Catherine writes: Everyone acquainted with Nan liked or loved her. She was very special to her nieces and nephews and all of her relatives. The day after Nan died we were at Mercy Villa and as we were leaving an aide was waling toward Nan's room and asked, "Where's my Nan?" I told her the sad news and she said she just loved Nan. The mercy Ville staff treated her like family and were able to make her laugh even when she was quite ill. Just before she left for St. John's ER, Nan was meeting a new nurse and asked her name. The nurse replied "my Name's Barbara, most people call me Barb." Nan had a good laugh when Bard continued "I don't care what they call me, just so long as they call me for meals". She always loved her family and never missed a family gathering. While Hank and Nan lived in Joplin, they formed a special bond with Michael and Catherine Koch. Her legacy to all is Love.