UNK Jack Schiffli

Obituary – Albert “Jack” Schiffli, Indianapolis Star (April 7, 2019)

Carmel – Albert John “Jack” Schiffli, age 92, died peacefully on April 2, 2019. Jack was born in Napoleon, Ohio, in 1927, the son of Albert and Leola Schiffli.

On August 15, 1949, he married his beloved Betty (Ice) Schiffli, whom he met in Washington, Indiana. She predeceased him in 2017 after 68 years of marriage. Jack had one younger brother, Dr. Robert A. Schiffli, of Birmingham, Alabama, who also predeceased him.

Jack retired in 1990, after thirty years as a mathematics teacher at North Central High School in Indianapolis. During his first years, he also served as an assistant coach for some of the greatest football teams in North Central’s history. He then took great pleasure assuming the role as announcer and “Voice of the Panthers” for nearly every sport. Prior to his tenure at North Central, Jack was a teacher and coach at both Griffin and Newnan High Schools in Georgia. In 2007, he was inducted into the Coweta County Georgia Sports Hall of Fame for his coaching achievements in both football and basketball.

Jack graduated from Washington High School in Daviess County, Indiana. He received his undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky and his master’s degree from Indiana University.

Jack was a tremendous athlete in both football and basketball and attended UK on a football scholarship. He was asked to play basketball by legendary coach Adolph Rupp as a reserve on the NCAA national championship 1948 basketball team to “toughen the boys up”.

He was a World War II veteran and served for twenty months in the Pacific Theatre as a second lieutenant with the Seventh Infantry Hourglass Division.

Survivors include four children and their spouses, Carolyn Copenhaver (Dave), Gary Schiffli (Beth), Cheryl Karlos (Miltiades) and Gregory Schiffli (Kristen), eight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

The family extends its deepest gratitude to the medical and support staff of The Barrington of Carmel and Kindred Gentiva Hospice for their compassionate care and assistance.

Visitation will be held at Leppert Mortuary (Nora), 740 E. 86th St., Indianapolis, on Monday, April 15, from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. (with family eulogies at 7:15 p.m.). A memorial Mass will be held at St. Elizabeth Seton Church in Carmel, 10655 Haverstick Road, on Tuesday, April 16 at 10:30 a.m. Funeral services will follow at a private family ceremony in Oaklawn Memorial Gardens.