Lorraine was the eighth of nine children born four years before the start of the depression. Her father worked for the postal service; her mother was a homemaker. She attended St. Alphonsus Grammar School and Alvernia, a Catholic girls high school. She married her grade-school sweetheart in 1949 and had seven children, 13 grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Her husband Joe died of cancer at the age of 71 in 1996, three years short of their golden wedding anniversary.
For thirty years (1966-1996) she was a teacher at St. Alphonsus Grammar School on the north side of Chicago, teaching third and fourth graders alongside the School Sisters of Notre Dame. She had more than 750 students in her homeroom and that many or more for individual subjects. After retiring from teaching, she volunteered as a tutor and then helped with secretarial tasks in the parish office at St. Alphonsus Church.
Recently, she had entered hospice care at a skilled care nursing facility. Her strength ebbed until she passed away peacefully while a son, daughter, and grandson prayed at her bedside. She had suffered from dementia for a number of years. For three-and-a-half years two of her daughters took turns staying with her in the home she had occupied for more than 55 years in the Lakeview section of Chicago, near Wrigley Field. She moved to the Arden Courts memory care facility in Northbrook for two years beginning in August 2017 where she participated in the daily activities and cheerfully interacted with the staff and other residents.
Her life was marked by boundless energy, charity toward others and a desire to challenge people – especially her children and students – to be their best and reach for the stars. As her dementia worsened, she mellowed showing greater affection and patience with herself and others.
Visitation will be held on Monday, September 30, from 10 a.m. until the 11 a.m. Mass of Christian Burial at St. Alphonsus Church, 1429 West Wellington Avenue, Chicago, IL 60657. Interment at Maryhill Cemetery in Niles.
The family has asked that donations in her memory may be made to the School Sisters of Notre Dame, 345 Belden Hill Road, Wilton CT 06897 or to the Alphonsus Academy, 1439 W. Wellington, Chicago IL 60657.
