Simona Olean Schiller

Her mother and father were Abram Dewitt Smith and Amanda Jane Langston (Smith). Simona was the youngest of the five kids in her family. She had three sisters and one brother. Her sisters were Helen, Joyce and Wayne and her brother was Jack. When Simona was born, her hair color was solid white.

Growing up in Selma, she was a happy-go lucky kid who excelled in art and loved to read. She spent a lot of her time in the library reading books and loved to go to the movies. Westerns and cowboy movies were her favorites. Growing up, she spent lots of time with her pet goat and the family cow. She loved animals throughout her entire life.

During her teenage years, Simona spent time in Texas and Arizona helping her sisters with their children. They were married to guys in the United States Air Force. Simona loved the time she spent in Arizona in 1954 and vowed that she would return to live in Arizona some day. On her 16th birthday on June 25th 1955, Simona began working at The Glass House Restaurant in Selma which was owned by her relatives. The Glass House was one of the most popular places to hang out in Selma. She loved working there and on one evening while on her way to the restroom, she walked by a handsome dark haired guy sitting on his Harley Davidson motorcycle. He saw her as she walked by and said, “Hey Blondie, when are you going out with me?” Simona kept walking past him and replied, “Oh, any time”. The guy on the motorcycle was Airman Franklin Schiller. He was an eighteen year old Air Force medic newly assigned to Craig Air Force Base in Selma. He was a handsome Jewish guy born in Buffalo, New York. He joined the Air Force after his father’s death in 1954. Soon after their first “conversation” Simona and Frank began dating. Frank was eighteen and Simona was sixteen. For the next two years, the two went everywhere on Frank’s Harley. He installed a “buddy seat” on the Harley for Simona. They would often ride for miles and miles just to sit and talk and have coffee. Simona turned eighteenth on the 25th of January 1957. Three days after that, Simona hopped on the back of Frank’s Harley during a thunderstorm and the two drove from Selma, Alabama to Meridian, Mississippi to get married before a Justice of the Peace. The ride to Meridian was an hour and a half on the Harley. Before the two could be married, Frank and Simona had to receive permission Frank’s Commanding Officer. We still have the official Air Force letter of permission from Frank’s Commanding Officer allowing Airman Franklin Schiller to marry Simona Olean Smith. The two returned from Meridian, Mississippi later that evening. For their “honeymoon”, Frank and Simona went to an indoor theater in Selma and watched the movie “Babydoll”. After the movie, Frank took Simona back to her parents’ house, dropped her off and returned to the Air Force Base. The two kept their marriage a secret for three weeks before they finally announced they had eloped.

Frank and Simona wasted no time in starting a family. By the end of the year, their first child Herman was born in December of 1957. By the summer of 1966, the family consisted of Frank, Simona and their two sons and four daughters Herman Dewitt, Donald Kevin, Dawn Rene, Debra Joe, Donna Rose and Gerri Denise.

For the next twenty years, the Schillers were an Air Force family. They were stationed at Craig Air Force base in Selma, Alabama, Royal Air Force Base Kirk Newton in Edinburgh, Scotland, McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita, Kansas and Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Being an Air Force wife was difficult. The pay was barely enough to support and feed a family of 8 and Just as soon as the family grew accustomed to life in one place, the Air Force ordered the family to a new base in a different State. The family quickly grew accustomed to constantly moving and adapting to different places, different people and new friends. To support his family, Frank always worked additional part-time and weekend jobs. His lifetime dream was to be an Air Conditioning and Refrigeration mechanic. In 1970, Frank enrolled in Air Conditioning Technical school and became an air Conditioning –Refrigeration Mechanic. Over the next forty years, Frank and Simona built three Air Conditioning Refrigeration companies; Gateway Air Conditioning In San Antonio, Texas, Frank’s Air Conditioning in Selma, Alabama and Schiller Heating and Cooling in Chandler, Arizona. Since her time in Chandler, Arizona back in 1954, Simona had always wanted to return to Arizona some day.

In the summer of 1975, Frank retired from the Air Force. The family returned to Selma, Alabama but quickly grew unhappy with life in the small town. After a year there, in June of 1976, Simona convinced Frank to pack up the family and move to Arizona. The Schillers arrived in Tempe and started their new lives in Arizona. Arizona quickly proved to be the land of opportunity for the family. Frank began working for the City of Tempe and Simona began working at different nursing homes as a nursing assistant and medical clerk. The bought a home in Chandler in the summer of 1986.

Over the next forty years, Frank and Simona’s lives consisted of spending time with their grandkids at the house on Morelos Street. Countless poolside barbeques and family get togethers took place at the house in Chandler. They built a successful Air Conditioning Company (Schiller Heating and Cooling) and eventually sold it in 2010. On November 20th 2019, after 63 years of marriage, Frank passed away from Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma caused by the Agent Orange he worked with in Vietnam. Their daughter Debra died in July of 2019.

Simona and Frank were always know for their generosity, their sense of humor and their love for their kids, grandkids and their dogs. Aside from raising their own children, Frank and Simona also raised their Granddaughter Christine and their grandson Brandon. Simona loved dogs! Her favorite dogs were Goldee, Buddy, Moxie, Savannah, Gracie, Mikey, Chewy, Itsy Bitsy, Paris and Ci-Ci. Simona also loved to watch videos and play computer games and puzzles on her Tablet. She had completed over 4,000 puzzles on her Tablet and loved to listen to music and watch funny video clips. Simona’s best friend and care provider was Mary Gantala. The two women were always laughing and making jokes. They reminded everyone of Lucy and Ethel from the “I Love Lucy” comedy show.

Simona suffered from a combination of medical problems and had frequent short term hospital stays toward the end of her life. On the 30th of April 2025, Simona peacefully died at her home on Morelos Street in Chandler, Arizona following a brief stay in the hospital. Her son Herman and his wife Michelle, her daughter Donna, her grandkids Amanda, Alison, Ashleigh, and Christine and her great granddaughter Shilah all gathered to be with Simona in her final days.

Simona will always be known for her kindness, her sense of humor, her dedication to her kids, her grandkids, her great grandkids and her love for her dogs. Her spaghetti, potato salad, chicken dumplins, goulash, and home-made soup were legendary as well as her keen Alabama with and sense of humor! Grandma is loved and will be missed dearly. We all look forward to a joyous reunion with Grandma and Grandpa and all our dogs again at Rainbow Bridge when it comes our time to pass away. Mom, Dad, we love you guys so much and miss you dearly!

Simona is preceded in death by her parents; siblings Carolyn Jane "Helen" Smith (Akres), Francis Graham "Jack" Smith, Joyce Maurice Smith (Schultz), and Doris Dewayne "Wayne" Smith (Bishop); her beloved husband Franklin Schiller; and her daughter Debra Joe Schiller (Wenning).

She is survived by her children Herman Dewitt Schiller, Donald Kevin Schiller, Dawn Rene Schiller (Shipps), Donna Rose Schiller (Byrne) and Gerri Denise Schiller (Pierpoint); grandchildren, Marlena Maria Schiller, Melanie Irene Schiller (Griggs), Christine Marie Schiller (Scott), Donald Schiller Jr., Leah Schiller, Rachael Olean Shipps (Zuchowicz), Sean Shipps, Franklin Wenning, Joseph Wenning, Tamara Wenning, Amanda Byrne (Alger), Alison Byrne (Smith), Ashleigh Byrne, Brandon Johnson, Malissa Johnson (Gonzalez) and Casey Pierpoint; and 13 great-grandchildren.

A visitation for Simona will be held Tuesday, May 6, 2025 from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM at Green Acres Mortuary & Cemetery, 401 North Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85257, followed by a graveside service from 11:00 AM to 11:30 AM.