Zibby Oneal

Born Mary Elizabeth Bisgard, on March 17, 1934, in Omaha, NE, she was the eldest daughter of Dr. James Dewey Bisgard and Mary Elizabeth Dowling Bisgard.

Nicknamed Zibby, she attended early elementary school at Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart in Omaha (where she was convinced the long-robed nuns got around on skates because she couldn’t see their feet). She then completed fourth grade through high school at Brownell Hall, also in Omaha. She attended Stanford University for two years from 1952 to 1954.

She left school to marry Dr. Robert M. (Bob) Oneal after meeting him at a wedding in Omaha and they settled in Boston, where Bob was in medical school. In 1957, they moved to Ann Arbor, where Bob became a resident in general surgery and eventually established his own practice in plastic surgery. Zibby raised two children, Lisa and Michael, and launched her writing career while they were at school. She graduated with a BA in English from the University of Michigan in 1968 and in 1971, began her appointment as a lecturer in the English department teaching Great Books.

Her first published novel was War Work, which came out in 1971 and received the 1972 Friends of American Writers Award. She is best known as the author of three young-adult novels: The Language of Goldfish, published in 1980, A Formal Feeling, 1982, and In Summer Light, 1985. A Formal Feeling won the 1982 Christopher Award and In Summer Light won the 1986 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. She also published two picture books and another novel for young readers as well as a biography of the painter Grandma Moses.

In a book written by two professors at Simmons College, where Zibby was a guest instructor in the summer of 1987, the authors call attention to her ability to “breathe new life into the age-old drama of growing up.” Her protagonists are young women who “behave non-traditionally within the structure of otherwise traditional households.” Through painful journeys (difficult relationships with parents, a suicide attempt) they eventually find their way to a new equilibrium by slaying the dragon of growing up and moving past their emotional isolation. Oneal recognized – gently – that adolescence is a self-absorbed world. “It’s not a place you can stay forever,” she told her biographers. “The movement away and out into the world, into concern for other people, has to happen; you aren’t adult until you make that move.”

Zibby was also a wonderful mother and a loving wife. Her tenderness was boundless, she was endlessly whimsical, funny without trying. She was unconditionally devoted to her children, and their children, who will always cherish the elaborate stories and games she made up especially for them. Bob, who spent 69 years as her husband, always thought of her as the smartest person he ever knew. She was the great love of his life.

Her many friends remember Zibby’s cleverness and quick wit. She was a steadfast friend to those she loved and unerringly kind, even to those she met in passing. You could count on her to be an earnest and caring companion but also someone who might break into a rendition of “I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out of My Hair,” complete with dance moves.

In her later years, the mischievous twinkle in her eye that let everyone know she was about to deliver an unedited zinger. She will be deeply missed by all who knew and loved her.

Zibby leaves behind Bob, her husband of 69 years; her daughter Lisa Conway (m. Bob) of Minneapolis; her son Michael Oneal (m. Anne Fiorito) of Oakland, CA; three grandchildren: Madeleine Conway (m. Chris Lazinski) of Minneapolis, Duncan Conway of Brooklyn, NY and Charlie Oneal of Olympia, WA; and a great grandson, Maxwell Lazinski of Minneapolis. She is also survived by her sister Karen Bisgard Alexander of Geneva, IL.

Zibby’s family would like to give heartfelt thanks to the devoted team of women who cared for her so lovingly at the end of her life: Amanda Harmon, Krystal Sandusky, Mary Gardner, Dorothy Dasine, Norma Hunt and Esperance Mulangalilo. We would also like to thank the lovely people at Homewatch Caregivers.

In lieu of flowers, gifts in her honor may be made to the Breakfast Program at St. Andrews in Ann Arbor.

A Joint Memorial Service for Bob and Zibby will be held on September 14, 2025, from 12:00 PM to 03:00 PM at Ann Arbor Golf and Outing Club located at 400 E Stadium Blvd, Ann Arbor, MI 48104.