joe schindler (Founder/president)

Polly Schindler (founder/vice president)

Joe and Polly Schindler founded the Anna Schindler Foundation in 2011 in honor of their daughter Anna Schindler who passed away following a five month battle with Hepatoblastoma (liver cancer).

Joe and Polly are the President and VP, but they prefer the term “Founders”. They have eight beautiful children: “7 with 1 in heaven” ranging in age from 26 down to 9. This family’s experience enables a very real insight into the journey of childhood cancer.

Joe is a firefighter and enjoys helping others. He looks forward to the continued success and growth of the foundation so it can help more families in need. “I consider it a privilege to serve with such amazing people who want to help these families battling cancer.”

Polly is a “stay at home” homeschooling mom, runs a home, and oversees the foundation. What she loves to do is visit the pediatric oncology floor at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital to offer support and a listening ear to the families.

Kathryn Steele- staff Chief operations officer

Kathryn joined the foundation after she and her husband Brian received support from the ASF when their son, Leland, was diagnosed with cancer at 5 months old.

With her experience in the world of childhood cancer and desire to give back, Kathryn started volunteering with the Anna Schindler Foundation in 2016 and was later hired as the Foundation’s first staff member in June 2017.

Kathryn resides in Spokane with her husband and two beautiful boys.

Mary Savage- staff Philanthropy officer

Mary Savage joined our team in the fall of 2021. She was born and raised in Southeastern Montana. As a resident of Spokane for nearly 40 years she calls Spokane her home. Whereas she’s the newest team member of the Anna Schindler Foundation she’s not new to the world of philanthropy. Mary has spent more than two decades of her professional career raising money for medically fragile and at-risk children. She’s a 2013 graduate of Leadership Spokane and been an active member of EWI (Executive Women International) of Spokane since 2002 and served as the EWI of Spokane chapter president in 2016.  

Mary is married to Pat Savage. They have one grown daughter that is married and lives in Italy with her husband who is enlisted in the United States Navy. In high school, Mary set and won a record at the Big Sky Drill Team Camp, earning the Spark Plug Girl Award and the nickname “Sparky”, for rapid memory recall of the names of 120+ fellow campers, a very useful skill in her development career.  

Dick Teich (Chairman)

(Pictured with wife Teresa) Dick comes to the Foundation by way of family. As Anna’s grandfather he was closely connected to events surrounding the families of cancer children.
He is a retired dentist of 50 plus years, served in the military, was past chairman of the Idaho State Dental Board, and is a member of the Western Regional Exam Board.

Kelly Scott

Kelly was born and raised in Southern California and after obtaining a Finance Degree from San Diego State University, worked in the retirement planning industry for many years before joining the family business owned by her husband and his siblings.  

 She relocated to the Northwest in 1995 with her husband and spent the last 26 years raising her two sons and working in the family business in accounting and finance.  

 She was introduced to the ASF by a mutual friend of Joe & Polly and has been a supporter of the Foundation for many years.   Kelly joined the ASF Board in 2021 after a 3-year tenure as Treasurer of the Rypien Foundation.  Both foundations have similar missions, and she was thrilled to be able to continue to support families whose children are in treatment at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital.

Dan adams (treasurer)

Dan Adams is a recently retired commercial banker and joined the Anna Schindler Foundation at its inception in 2011. He has been active as a board member in a number of community organizations including Boy Scouts of America, SUCCEED (a foundation for the support of urban elementary schools) and Habitat for Humanity. As Treasurer of the Anna Schindler Foundation, his goal is to help the organization achieve its short and long term financial goals.

dr. tom detar

Dr. Tom deTar is a medical physician in North Idaho running his practice of St. Joseph’s Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, specializing in Otolaryngology and Pediatric Otolaryngology. Tom is very involved in the community and loves to give forward. 

Tom completed his first IRONMAN in 2014 raising over $27,000 for the Anna Schindler Foundation. Tom is the founder and ambassador of the IRONMAN for Anna program in which athletes race and raise money for the ASF

He is married, has nine beautiful children, several grandchildren and resides in the Post Falls area.