Norbert Joseph Wrobel

Norbert Joseph Wrobel, 83, passed away Thursday, January 30, 2020, in Lindenhurst, IL, after suffering a stroke earlier in the month at his home. Norb was born May 13, 1936 in Chicago, to Joseph and Helen Wrobel. He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife, Joyce.

Norb grew up on the South Side of Chicago, graduating from Mount Carmel High School in 1953. He then earned a degree in electrical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology, followed by a four-year stint in the Navy. It was during this time while he was stationed in Morocco that he picked up his photography skills. He confounded family and friends for years, telling them that he couldn’t reveal his job in the Navy because it was classified.

After the Navy, Norb began a career in electrical engineering that spanned more than five decades in the Chicago area, including stops at Comstock, Metric Electric, M.G. Electric and finally, Gurtz Electric until he retired in 2003.

But it was a chance trip to the North Side of Chicago in the early 1960s changed his life. He met his future wife at a picnic at a Jack and Jill Club, a club for teens in the city. After romancing her for a couple of years, they married in 1963. Julie was born two years later. But in 1976, Norb lost the love of his life when Joyce died of cancer, leaving him to raise their daughter alone.

“When my mom was dying, she was worried what was going to happen to me,” Julie recalled. “My dad said, ‘Well, she’s going to finish grammar school, finish high school and then go to college. In 1976, that wasn’t always the first thing a father thought of when thinking about his daughter. Being raised by a single father, he never put limits on me because I was a female.”

Norb was not a big talker, but Julie remembers him as a good role model who taught her the importance of a good work ethic. One of her fondest memories was spending hours in their basement, developing film in his makeshift darkroom. Norb, a practical joker all his life, also was fluent in sarcasm, which he apparently passed on to Julie. But to hear Norb tell it, he claimed Julie’s sarcasm came from her mother.

After retiring, Norb spent much of his time traveling the globe with his daughter and son-in-law, taking trips with them to Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Caribbean. He was the official photographer on all family trips, and he was active in the Des Plaines Camera Club and the Chicago Area Camera Club Association. He also was active in the Des Plaines Elks Lodge.

Norb is survived by his daughter, Julie Wrobel-Eckard and her husband, Gary Eckard; sister, Arlene and her husband, Richard Wands; granddaughter, Theresa Eckard; great-granddaughter, Eva Menchaca; and nieces and nephews, Beverly Thompson and her husband, Robert, Nancy Gillespie and her husband, Sam, and Eric Wands and his wife, Colleen.

Visitation will be held Monday, February 3, 2020 from 3-8 pm at Oehler Funeral Home, 2099 Miner Street Des Plaines, IL 60016. Prayers will be said on Tuesday, February 4 at 9:15 am at Oehler followed by a procession to St. Emily Catholic Church, 1400 E. Central Road Mount Prospect for 10 am Mass. Interment private. For more information call (847) 824-5155.