Mary Valeria Waishwell died on her 92nd birthday.  She was recently hospitalized and the family feels blessed that she returned to her residence at Lake Barrington Woods to peacefully die in her own room.

Mary was a homemaker and nurse. She graduated from Robert Packer School Training School for Nurses, worked in hospital settings in NY and in Chicago, and did home nursing as she raised three children.  She had natural compassion for those suffering and was a gifted and selfless caretaker. Born in Lithuania, Mary came to the US when she was four. She lived with her parents and brothers first in Brooklyn, then in a farming community in Ulster Penn. As a young teenager she was separated from her family during the Depression, then found her mother in Chicago after finishing nursing school. Mary carried a farm girl persona. She was a hard worker and took duties very seriously.  She was a wonderful cook and made full – what we might now call Sunday dinners- every night of the week. She loved nature and knew the names of most wildflowers and imparted her love of nature to her three children. She had a great sense of fun and mischief, had twinkly eyes and a very expressive face.  Of her many gifts, she had a beautiful operatic voice and sang professionally during nursing school. She was a longtime member of St. Raymond’s Choir, the Northwest Choral Society,   and community choir. Her children were very aware of this voice growing up as it carried through the neighborhood with great clarity. Her husband, Albert, and her son Allen, preceeded her in death. She is survived by daughter Lynn, son Greg (Melinda) and grandson Matthew.

Visitation Friday 5:00 – 9:00 PM at Frederichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Rd., at Northwest Hwy., Mt. Prospect. Visitation continues on Saturday from 9:00 AM until Mass 10:00 AM at St. Raymond de Penafort Church, Elmhurst Rd. (Rt 83) at Lincoln St., Mt. Prospect.

In lieu of flowers, memorials to St. Joseph’s Indian School, PO Box 326, Chamberlain, SD 57326 www.stjo.org
or Catholic Charities, 721 N. LaSalle St., Chicago, IL 60654 www.catholiccharities.net
.