Mary Pastuovic

Mary Pastuovic, 88, a longtime resident of Elmhurst, died peacefully at home; beloved wife of the late Milan; loving mother of Milan (Mary Pat), John (Sue) and Nicholas (Debbie); proud grandmother of Elizabeth (John) Rudolphi, Colleen, Laura (Patrick) Kasten, Christopher, Catherine, Jack, Michael, Jacqueline, Nicholas, Allison, and great-grandmother of Amelia Rudolphi; dear sister of the late Katherine (Joseph) Babich and the late Eva Starcevic; cherished daughter of the late Magdalena and the late Nikola Starcevic. Mary was born in Gary, Indiana, the daughter of Croatian immigrants, growing up in Gary, she graduated from Lew Wallace High School. After high school, Mary worked for the Northern Indiana Public Service Company for ten years. She met and married her husband Milan while living in Gary. The couple built their first home on a double lot in Gary enabling them to have a huge garden. Mary grew flowers, lots of vegetables, and a patch of strawberries. Milan grew peach, plum and apple trees. Mary and her sister, Eva, loved canning everything from the garden — tomatoes, peppers, sauerkraut, peaches and pears, to name a few. And when the apples came in, it was apple pie and strudel.  In 1970, when her husband took a job in the western suburbs of Chicago, they moved to Elmhurst. Eventually, Mary took a job at Providence Washington Insurance Company, first as a coding clerk, and then advancing to insurance underwriter. When her husband died of cancer in 1980, she worked hard to ensure that her boys could continue on with their education.  Mary was a voracious reader and for a time after she retired, volunteered at the Elmhurst Public Library. When she could no longer read books, she enjoyed listening to audiobooks on her CD player. She was a huge fan of Jeopardy and watched the show every afternoon for decades. But perhaps her all time favorite television viewing was the Lawrence Welk Show. Visitation Wednesday, 3:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Gibbons Funeral Home, 134 South York Road, (½ mile North of Saint Charles Road), Elmhurst. Friends and family will meet Thursday, May 24, 2018 for a Mass of Christian Burial 9:30 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, 134 Arthur Street, Elmhurst. Private Interment in Gary, Indiana. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to JourneyCare Hospice, 2050 Claire Court, Glenview, IL 60025 or www.journeycare.org . For funeral information please call 630-832-0018 or www.gibbonsfuneralhome.com