Marge Markelz

Written by her daughter Aimee Markelz Tracy

My mom raised six children, my good fortune to be the youngest :-). She and my father gifted us with our Catholic faith, excellent education, a love & appreciation for family, and the importance of being of service in the community. She lived a wonderful life for 82 years in Joliet, IL. She worked with my dad in our family business, was very involved at St. Paul the Apostle, our grade school and parish and for St. Francis Academy and Joliet Catholic High School. She was proud of her children, now a mix of business people, an inventor, finance guru and a Carmelite priest! She had many lifelong friends and kept up with her social clubs, mostly card playing for many years. She was delighted to be a grandmother of ten and great grandmother of three. After my dad died in 2009, she began to show more signs of dementia but was adamant she was going to live the rest of her days at home. She managed alone for five years and, in her last two, made it with 24-hour care. Towards the end, she really only knew the names of each of her children, the Our Father and Hail Mary, yet she was sweet & cute & patient, thank you God. As time without her passes, my love for her continues to grow.

I'm so pleased to honor her in this small way through a donation to St. Ignatius College Prep. She would love it!