^{Mom: Age 3}

Born March 16, 1926, Mom,  formerly of Peoria, IL, died on Thursday, July 26, 2007, in the Naperville area, following a long illness and complications from emergency surgery.

Mom  was a graduate of the Academy of Our Lady, Peoria, class of '44. She attended the College of St. Theresa in Winona, MN and married Dad, her high-shool sweetheart on January, 3, 1948.

^{College Girl}

Dad preceded her in death on Saturday, May 27, 2000.  She lived the majority of life in Peoria. She is survived by their five children, Ellen, Paula, Daniel, Gayle and Gregory, five gransons, three granddaughters and two great-grandsons.

^{Mom & Me (6 months)}

For the past two years have the colors of the earth seemed somehow faded? And..Oh...isn't our world unnaturally quiet, missing infectious, frequent laughter?...less joyful, missing a particular pair of sparkling, Irish eyes and championship smile? Are everyday conversations less interesting and missing an element of wisdom? 

Please, allow me an inside joke here, but also, the U.S. Postal Service, Stationery and card manufacturers, AT & T, Reynolds Aluminum Company, all paper product manufactures and hair-stylists must have scrambled upon news of her departing, in order to recoup future, massive losses in income.

How do you summarize a life in a mere thousand words? When it comes to Mom, it might be possible…in a thousand volumes.

Here are a few of our descriptions of Mom: She was a loving wife and mother and devoted friend, and was caring and respectful to every person she met. She was highly intelligent, wise, amazingly funny, often childlike, loyal, trusting, trustworthy, sometimes exasperating, sometimes exasperated, comforting, insightful, intense, calm in crisis, stressed by everyday life. She was generous with her time, her emotions, her guidance, her pocketbook and most endearingly, her tremendous heart. She consistently put her faith into action by organizing and participating in numerous parish-sponsored activities. Throughout her life, she counted dozens as “best friends”, many retained from childhood, but she also possessed the uncanny ability to become someone’s new, “old friend.” She possessed a quiet, abiding faith and believed in the power of prayer and the glory and peace of the afterlife.

Comtinue to rest in peace, Mom. You brightened the world and each of our lives. We love you, we miss you and will keep you in our hearts, always.