Alfred E. Schild, 94, a Lombard resident who retired from his last job when he was 90, died of congestive heart failure Saturday, June 1 in St. Anthony Hospital in Rockford. Mr. Schild was a Chicago native who was raised in Villa Park and attended York High School. He married his first wife, Berenice, who died in 1984, and opened up an auto-repair business in Villa Park with his brother. But the business failed when the Depression hit, said his daughter Berenice Craigie. The couple and their two children moved to Lombard in 1937 and Mr. Schild stayed at the same address for the rest of his life. After his business failed, Mr. Schild became a janitor at York High School. He went to work for an automotive manufacturing company in Chicago during World War II. In 1952, the company sent him and his family to Puerto Rico to help set up a manufacturing business on the island, his daughter said. A few years later, he joined Goss Press and worked there until he retired when he was 65. The company hired him back and he worked there several more years, his daughter said. Mr. Schild later drove a bus for Bensenville Home Society. “During the summer they didn’t want to lose him so they hired him as a janitor. He worked there until he was 90 years old,” his daughter said. At 77, Mr. Schild married Emma Childs, who died in 1995. In addition to his daughter, Mr. Schild is survived by stepdaughters Terri Day, and Darlene Cook; stepson Charles Child; seven grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; a great-great-grandchild; and three step-grandchildren. Visitation will be held from 3 p.m. Saturday until services at 7 p.m. in Steuerle Funeral Home, 350 S. Ardmore Ave., Villa Park.
