By Cliff Radel
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ARRANGEMENTS

Marge Schott's Saturday funeral arrangements are: Visitation: 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Open to the public at Marge Schott Parish Center of All Saints Catholic Church, 8939 Montgomery Rd., Kenwood, (513) 791-6361. Mass: 1 p.m. in the sanctuary of All Saints Catholic Church. At the request of her family, only relatives, friends and employees will be able to attend the Mass. Burial: Following the Mass of Christian burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 11000 Montgomery Rd., Montgomery, (513) 489-0300. Memorials: Marge & Charles J. Schott Foundation, c/o Schottco Corp., 531 Murray Rd., Cincinnati 45217 or a charity of one's choice.

SPECIAL SECTION

• Marge Schott remembered

Marge Schott will be laid to rest Saturday as the lady in red.

Her sisters have selected a tasteful red suit - adorned with an elephant lapel pin - for her to wear as her family and the city say goodbye to one of Cincinnati's most storied characters.

Red was Schott's favorite color. In baseball teams. And in flowers.

"She loved red roses," said her sister Lottie Crane.

"And red and white carnations. Those flowers will be near her casket."

Schott died Tuesday at the age of 75.

Her visitation Saturday - open to the public - is 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at All Saints Catholic Church in Kenwood. Mass - limited to family, friends and employees - is at 1 p.m. Burial will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Montgomery.

Crane is the first-born of the five Unnewehr girls. Marge, the second daughter of Edward and Charlotte Unnewehr, was followed in birth by Caroline, Bobbie and Winnie.

"Marge and I were less than a year apart," Crane said. "We were raised as twins.

"But, as Marge always said, anytime she'd introduce me, 'This is my older sister.' Then she'd laugh and laugh."

As the oldest sister, Crane will deliver Schott's eulogy.

"I'm going to cover her youth," she said.

She plans to tell people in the pews: "You have read about her in the paper and seen her on TV. I'm going to tell you parts of her life that only privileged family members know."

She said she might talk about how Schott earned money in college - stocking peanut machines in bars and stores.

She might mention the time Schott and her Clifton neighbor - a future Congressman, William J. Keating - "got some paint from Daddy's garage. They went up and down Evanswood Place and painted all of the fire plugs a different color. Boy, did they get it."

She won't talk about her sister's death.

"Marge went very, very peacefully at 1:15 p.m. on Tuesday," Crane said. "She had severe emphysema that affected her whole body. That started a domino effect that took her. Her kidneys were bad. Everything was shutting down."

Schott was surrounded by her four sisters when she died. All four will be by her side Saturday.

Over the years, Schott told her sisters what she wanted for her funeral. Her plans were "pretty cut and dried," said Schott's sister Bobbie Unnewehr. "And pretty scanty. She never went into detail."

Schott was a fun-loving woman. She loved big dogs and huge elephants. She was a much-beloved figure by everyday fans of baseball, the Reds and Cincinnati.

Her funeral will be a solemn affair. Many of her fans are expected to attend the visitation, which could result in an overflow crowd.

Yet, the family never considered using a larger site, such as Music Hall or Great American Ball Park.

"This is her parish," Crane said. "We're doing everything at All Saints.

"Our sister is gone," she added. "This is a spiritual matter."

That's why there will be no elephant at the gravesite, a notion the family had entertained.

Schott's gifts to the Cincinnati Zoo paid for the zoo's elephant house, and one of its trumpeting occupants is named Schottzie.

Crane thought an elephant at Gate of Heaven - a cemetery with a "No Dogs Allowed" sign at its entrance - "would be cool."

But that's not going to happen.

"Schottzie doesn't need to come to the cemetery," said Unnewehr.

"I can just hear her (Marge) say, 'Oh, let Schottzie come.'

"She's going to be mad at me."

"We're just doing what we think is the proper, right thing to do familywise, hoping that it will meet with Marge's approval and she'll cut us some slack."

Those efforts extend to the funeral's musical selections.

"Ave Maria" tops the list. Also on the printed program - adorned with a red ribbon - will be "Coeur de Jesus."

"We sang that song in school at Sacred Heart," Crane said.

Schott's favorite tune was written for a 1935 film that came out seven years after she was born.

But it was deemed inappropriate for a funeral Mass.

The song's title?

"The Lady in Red."

E-mail cradel@enquirer.com