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Mathilda McDonough
Of Weston Township, Wisconsin
Mathilda McDonough was born on July 19, 1916, in Weston Township, Wisconsin, to Erich Schoenherr and Emma nee Schlinkert Schoenherr.
Mathilda died Wednesday, December 25, 2013 in Ventura, California.
Mathilda, youngest of nine children, was raised on a working family dairy farm in rural Wisconsin, near the town of Neillsville. She attended school in a one-room schoolhouse near the family homestead. As a young woman, Mathilda left Wisconsin and headed for the big city where she worked as a “Stouffer girl" at the famed Stouffer’s restaurant in downtown Chicago. While living her big city dream, she met and married Emmett McDonough (he was a bookkeeper and, later, a broker at the Chicago Board of Trade). They had nine children, all raised in Chicago. Every year, they vacationed at their small country cabin in Wisconsin, visiting Mathilda’s mother, siblings, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
After raising her children, Mathilda worked for many years at the downtown branch of the Chicago Post Office. Mathilda was a beautiful, fun-loving, vibrant, and outgoing woman--affectionately termed “a real pistol” by friends and family. She had many friends that she met at the senior center, at St. Colette’s church in Rolling Meadows, and while working at the post office. She was devoutly religious, attending services regularly as long as she was physically able to do so. She loved to get together with friends to play pinochle, enjoyed reading a good mystery (still--at the age of 97), and continued to challenge her mind by working puzzles. An avid gardener, she was still puttering around in the garden and caring for her houseplants well into her 90‘s. She was mentally a sharp woman to the end, with a memory that rivaled those of her own children. Perhaps her greatest accomplishment as a woman was that of caring for and acting as a companion to her disabled son, Michael. She was a mother until the end. Mathilda was also the proud and loving grandmother of 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
Mathilda is survived by her children, Robert (Monica) McDonough, James (Nancy) McDonough, Catherine (Walter) Donnelly, Daniel McDonough (Chris Werdrick), Mary Brady, Patricia McDonough, Rita Jenkins, Michael McDonough, and Jeannine (Steve) Meyer, many grand- and great-grandchildren, and many cousins, nieces, and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Emmett G. McDonough; her beloved granddaughter, Jenni Jenkins; her parents; and her eight siblings.
Visitation will be from 3:00 PM until 8:00 PM, Thursday, January 2, 2014 at Glueckert Funeral Home Ltd. (4 blocks south of Palatine Rd.), Arlington Heights. After prayers at 9:15 AM, Friday, January 3, 2014, at Glueckert Funeral Home, mourners will proceed to St. Colette’s Catholic Church, 3900 Meadow Dr., Rolling Meadows, for Mass at 10:00 AM. Interment will be at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines.
Glueckert Funeral Home
(847) 253-0168
1520 North Arlington Heights Road
Arlington Heights, IL 60004
GlueckertFH.com