FRANKLIN – Maethel Elaine Deeg Shindelman, 95, long-time resident and community volunteer of Macon County, started her voyage into eternity on July 24, 2021. Born the only child of Arthur and Ida Deeg on Nov. 11, 1925, in St. Paul, Minnesota, Maethel was a precocious child, skipping two grades and entering the University of Minnesota at age 16. Her fascination about the workings of the brain led to her dream of becoming a neurologist. However, medical school turned her down in favor of males who would be sent to the fronts in WWII. Pivoting her curiousity to understand the human mind-body connection, she turned to psychology and got her master’s degree, an accomplishment for a woman in the 1940s. One of her first jobs was at the VA hospital in Bath, New York, where she met Lawrence George Shindelman, who was to be her husband for the next 58 years. After taking time off to start a family, her career continued as a psychologist in the Miami-Dade public schools, and after moving to Macon County in 1970 she joined the Developmental Evaluation Clinic at WCU. Maethel and Larry were two of the original founders of the UU Fellowship of Franklin. After retirement, they loved to travel and visited numerous countries in Europe, Asia, and South America, collecting local folk art. Maethel was also active with Friends of the Library, Carenet, Humane Society, and the League of Women Voters. She retained her curiousity, read voraciously, and enjoyed beauty in many forms, especially artwork, music, and nature, watching the trees, birds, the moon and stars outside her window. Maethel was also a pianist, often providing music for UUFF services. Maethel had a caring and tender heart and delighted in helping the less fortunate as well as friends and neighbors.
Maethel is survived by a son Damien Michael Shindelman of Phoenix, Arizona, a daughter Martha Zeigler (John) of Asheville, and grandson Stewart Noe of the home.
Services at the UUFF have not been scheduled yet.
Bryant-Grant Funeral Home and Crematory is serving the Shindelman family. Condolences can be made at bryantgrantfuneralhome.com