Schindlers Find Work Together

By DAVID SOMMER dsommer@tampatrib.com

Published: Mar 29, 2006

ST. PETERSBURG - The Schindler family always said their fight to keep Terri Schiavo alive brought them together, and that is true now more than ever.

All four surviving members of the family, Terri Schiavo's parents, Bob and Mary Schindler, her brother, Bobby Schindler, and her younger sister, Suzanne Vitadamo, now work for the Terri Schindler-Schiavo Foundation.

Bobby Schindler quit his job as a science and mathematics teacher at Tampa Catholic High School. Vitadamo gave up her career as a stock broker.

In a cramped, three-room office on Central Avenue, the Schindlers field e-mail and telephone calls from people anxious about end-of-life decisions being made for loved ones without their consent.

Everywhere, it seems, Terri Schiavo looks down on them from framed photographs, paintings and drawings made by supporters during the family's unsuccessful eight-year court battle to keep son-in-law Michael Schiavo from removing his wife's feeding tube.

Photographs of the family meeting Pope Benedict XVI shortly after Terri Schiavo's death one year ago, along with numerous religious artifacts and a drawing of Michelangelo's Pieta, attest to the Schindlers' deep Catholic faith.

A map of the United States in the tiny conference room bears color-coded stars showing where one or more family members traveled during the past year to speak at gatherings against abortion rights.

The stars marking 30-odd locations are not up to date, and they do not reflect Bobby Schindler's overseas appearances in New Zealand, Germany and England.

Last week, he was headed to Ireland for yet another conference. The rest of the family was preparing to head to New York for a week of television appearances to promote their new book, "A Life That Matters: The Legacy of Terri Schiavo - A Lesson for Us All."

The foundation will put profits from the book toward its initial goal of building a "network throughout the county, and possibly the world," of professionals in law and medicine who can help people fight to keep loved ones alive, Bob Schindler said.

The Schindlers said they also will work to get state laws changed to protect people from being removed from life support when all family members do not agree to it.

Only Louisiana has acted as a result of the nationwide debate over whether Schiavo's feeding tube should have been removed against the will of her biological family.

The new Louisiana law prevents a spouse from making such a decision if they are living with another person - as Michael Schiavo was when he had his wife's feeding tube removed over the Schindlers' objections.

Lawmakers in other states have been unable to get similar changes passed into law, Bobby Schindler said. "It's going to take a little while before these laws are actually changed," he said before heading to Ireland.