Pauline Marie Tindal

November 28, 1923 – January 26, 2023 Pauline Marie Otto (Polly) was born to Herbert and Kathryn Otto in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1923. Having lived almost a hundred years, she thrived throughout a wide swath of historical change. When she was just six, she and her family learned to economize during the depression. The Ottos did suffer some scarcity during this time, but frequently assisted others in need. The family was eventually able to buy one of the first cars in their neighborhood which expanded their lives. Polly’s quick wit and intelligence allowed her to skip a grade in grade school. She later attended Seton Hall boarding school and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) at age 20 with a degree in education, which was the degree women sought in those days. What women did not do in those days was learn to fly airplanes, so she did. A huge thrill for her was her first time soloing. During Polly’s years at IUP, the boys were off at war (WWII), so at dances, the girls danced with each other. She also developed her keen bridge-playing skills with her dorm mates. Her first teaching assignment was to teach high schoolers who were almost her own age, requiring her to work hard to maintain discipline in the classroom. After graduation she started working right away at Westinghouse as an engineering assistant, one of a handful of women hired after a battery of tests to replace the men who had gone to fight in the war. To keep her mind active during the long, mind-numbing bus rides to and from work, she memorized poetry and verses from Shakespeare’s plays. The position in which she worked required recommending spare parts for U.S. Navy ships in the South Pacific theater of operations. Little did she know that her future husband, Lorenzo (Larry) Tindal was serving as a Captain in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the South Pacific, perhaps being transported on the ships she had helped repair. Not long after the war, a friend at Westinghouse set her up with Larry who was from Alabama and a mechanical engineering graduate of Auburn. In 1947, Larry and Polly were married in Pittsburgh by a newly-ordained priest, who would later rise to become Cardinal John O’Connor of New York. They kept in touch with each other until very late in his life. After marriage, Polly honored Larry’s request for her to leave Westinghouse so they could start a family. She thrived at home, raising “three perfect children” (Polly’s words), Kitty, Deanna, and Chris. She kept herself busy with them, handling the family finances, serving as substitute teacher in their grade school, doing church work, playing bridge and reading. On Saturdays in the fall, her busy life was put on hold while she watched college football. When Larry died at the very early age of 50, she focused her mental energies on duplicate bridge. She lost herself in bridge tournaments, becoming a Life Master and Director and writing the bridge column for the Mobile Press Register. She was still playing and winning at duplicate bridge into her 90s. A bright spot in her life after Larry died was to visit Chris in Italy and worship with him at Christmas Midnight Mass in St. Peter’s with Pope John Paul II as celebrant. Another thrill for her was to be in the White House Oval Office with the President and Vice-President for Mel’s swearing in as a member of the President’s Cabinet. Polly loved to spend the Christmas holidays in Atlanta with Deanna and her family. A lot of joyous laughter permeated the house while they were all together. When Deanna and Fred took trips, Polly was the very busy, substitute parent for Claire, Eric, and Glenn. When Kitty and Mel moved to Washington, DC, she lived with them for three years to help with 7-year-old Andrew. Later, while she served as a volunteer at the Orlando Science Center, her older great-grandchildren loved to spend time with her there in the orange juice “factory”. Over the years she enjoyed teaching some to swim, some to play cards and word games, and writing them poems and stories and doing homework with all of them. Symphonic music was a lifelong pleasure for Polly. She was probably the first 75-year-old to actively use an iPod to play her music. She reveled in classical music on one of her favorite trips abroad, traveling to Vienna and Berlin to seven different symphonic halls, seven days in a row. Later, during the years that she lived with Kitty and Mel in Washington, she loved going to Wolf Trap and the Russian Embassy for concerts and to the President’s box at the Kennedy Center for ballets, operas and symphonies. Back in Orlando, she volunteered as an usher at the Bob Carr Auditorium and for years, saw and heard everything that was presented there. As a devout Catholic, she volunteered at St. James Cathedral as an alto in the choir, and served as a lector, usher, receptionist, Eucharistic Minister, writer for the Jubilee Magazine, seamstress for the huge Advent and Christmas banners, and minister to shut-ins and hospital patients. Polly taught each of the generations under her care about faith, and God’s love for us, and of the importance and beauty of frequent prayer. Her faith and love guided her to be a devoted wife, a dedicated mother, and a caring grandmother to six grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren. She held her great-great-grandson (Ace Barron) four days before her death. Polly lived a long life, a full life, to the fullest. ✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟✟ Polly is survived by her two children, Kitty Martinez (Mel) of Orlando and Chris Tindal (Jack) of Charleston. She was predeceased by her husband, Larry, and her daughter, Deanna Maust (Fred). Polly was known as Boppy to her six grandchildren, Lauren Martinez, John Martinez (Helen), Andrew Martinez (Katie), Claire Maust McDaniel (Thomas), Eric Maust (Caroline) and Glenn Maust (Rachel), and to her eight great-grandchildren (Kaley, Jack, Lily, Virginia, Tindal, Josephina, Leighton and Warren), and even a great-great-grandson (Ace Barron). A funeral service with be held at St. James Catholic Cathedral Orlando on Friday, February 10, 2023, at 9:45AM. Afterwards a brunch reception will be at the Rosalind Club, 11 N. Rosalind, Orlando. An internment service will be held a few days later in Mobile, Alabama. In lieu of flowers, a memorial gift can be made to St. James Cathedral Capital Campaign, 215 N. Orange Avenue, Orlando, FL 32801 or to Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, 425 N. Bumby Avenue, Orlando, FL 32803 .

Pauline Marie Tindal

November 28, 1923 - January 26, 2023