Lydia Schmalandt, 97, passed away peacefully on August 6th, 2022. She emigrated from Germany to the United States with her husband (Julius) and son (Horst) in late 1951. They worked on a ranch in Montana before moving to Forest Park, Illinois in 1954. They became citizens in 1961. Julius worked at Forest Park Savings and Loan. For many years Lydia was a seamstress at Gilmore’s Department Store in Oak Park, Illinois doing alterations on wedding dresses. She attended Forest Park Baptist Church every Sunday. The couple moved to Phoenix, Arizona in 1975, where Lydia worked as a seamstress at Goldwater’s Department Store. Julius passed in 1998, and Lydia moved back to the Chicago area in 2006, living in the Oak Trace (then Fairview) Retirement Home in Downers Grove.
Lydia was the sister of Willie (Martha), mother of Horst (Mary) and Bob (Anne), aunt to Reinhardt, grandmother to Kristen (Brian), Michael, Dan, Kevin (Chelsie), and Meg (Cole), great-grandmother to Sylvia and Charlie Anne.
Lydia's services will be held privately.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.woodlawnchicago.com for the Schmalandt family.