Donna deShay "Shay" Esnard Schilling

A Baton Rouge native, Shay was a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy and Emory University. Thanks to her incredible people skills, she enjoyed a fruitful and rewarding career in the banking and mortgage lending field. Shay was a devoted wife, daughter, and profoundly proud mother of her two wonderful boys…Joseph and Benjamin. She was the consummate school mom, sports mom, bleacher mom, room mother, lunch server, and volunteer for all things “kids”. If you showed up at a game without your pom poms, she always had backups to share which would usually include a snack. Shay was a social animal at heart and treasured her lifelong relationships with her girlfriends, co-workers, and schoolmates…near and far.

Even after her breast cancer diagnosis, 9 years ago, she was steadfast in her commitment to her family, her work, her goals and the future of her boys. They were her world and her reason to fight her disease with such ferocious and fierce determination. She never wavered in her extraordinary positive outlook. You were always left in awe at her ability to sustain such enthusiasm for life, while dealing with challenges that would cause many of us to give up.

Her courage, strength, and grace were an inspiration to all.

Shay is survived by her husband of 30 years, Steven Kent Schilling; sons, Joseph and Benjamin; father, Rene Esnard; stepmother, Donna Dees Esnard; mother-in-law, Kathleen McClure Chadick; aunt, Donna (Tia) Ammon Comeaux; brother-in-law John Schilling along with a host of aunts, uncles, and cousins. She was preceded in death by her mother, Sandra Ammon Rester; brother, Paul Ryan Esnard; grandparents, Alicia Ammon, Gene Oscar Ammon, Carmen McGuire Esnard, John Benjamin Esnard; father-in-law, Dr. Stan Chadick.

Funeral service to be held on Tuesday, November 4 at St. Aloysius Church. Visitation 9:30 to 11:00 with mass at 11:00.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.