Margaret J. Schofield, 67, an English teacher at Chicago-area schools for 40 years who also was president of the Orland Fire Protection District Board of Trustees, died of breast cancer Sunday, Feb. 24, in her Orland Park home. Born on the South Side of Chicago, she attended high school at Longwood Academy and graduated with a teaching degree from Mt. Mary College in Milwaukee. She taught at Longwood and Little Flower and Corliss High Schools. Later she taught at Hurley Elementary School until her retirement in 1999. Mrs. Schofield, whose son is a firefighter, became fire commissioner of the Orland Fire Protection District in 1987 and was elected to the board of trustees in 1991. She worked to organize a fire insurance co-op among suburban fire protection districts to bring down the cost firefighters pay for health insurance. Mrs. Schofield also lobbied the state legislature for additional funding for the district. Always the teacher, she corrected poor grammar, both spoken and written, even in fire protection district business. “If the chief or trustees ever wrote a paper, she’d review it and send it back for corrections,” said her son Michael. Mrs. Schofield is also survived by four daughters, Peggy Figiel, Anne Marrin, Mary Berardelli and Jane Schofield; a brother, Thomas Evans; a sister, Shirley Herald; and 15 grandchildren. Visitation is scheduled from 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Robert J. Sheehy & Sons Funeral Home, 9000 W. 151st St., Orland Park. A mass will be said at 10 a.m. Thursday in St. Michael Church, 14327 Highland Ave., Orland Park.
