Crime & Safety
School Offers $500 Reward For Bell Stolen 41 Years Ago
A bell commissioned from Germany in 1962 for North Shore Country Day School was stolen in November 1978.
North Shore Country Day is once again initiating a $500 reward for information that would lead to the recovery of the 168-pound bronze bell given to the school in 1962 and stolen in 1978. The bell was a gift from the Otto and Dorothy Schilling family.
In the summer of 1962, the Schilling family—including Barbara (NSCD Class of 1963)—took a trip to Europe. While in Germany, they stopped at her uncle’s bell foundry in Heidelberg. She was so taken with the beautiful bells that she thought North Shore Country Day should have one of its own.
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Her father Otto Schilling, inspired by his family’s history as bell makers, designed and selected the specific ringtones for the school bell he commissioned to be cast by his younger brother Friedrich Schilling.
The bell was delivered on Dec. 31, 1962. “We all have been waiting anxiously for the arrival of our new bell and it was a moment of joy for those who were here when it arrived on the day before New Years,” wrote Headmaster Nathaniel French to Friedrich in early January 1963. “Happily, Barbara was here at school and so was able to enjoy its unpacking with the rest of us.“
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Barbara Schilling Stanton of Golden, Colorado, remembers ringing it for the first time after it had been hung outside the school’s auditorium in the spring of her senior year. “The bell was beautiful,” she said. “The name of the school encircled the top with the school crest below.”
Beginning the following school year, the bell was used to signal the beginning of classes each day, to call students to the daily assembly and for special events.
The bell rang for the last time during the early hours of Nov. 28, 1978. Headmaster Douglas McDonald, who lived in Wavering House at the northwest corner of campus, heard it ring once and fell back asleep. In the morning, the bell was gone.
Despite reporting the theft to the Winnetka Police and offering a reward of $500 for its return, the bell was never recovered. If you have information about its whereabouts, please contact communications@nscds.org, or call 847-441-3337.
This press release was produced by North Shore Country Day School. The views expressed here are the author's own.
