Mary Catherine Kosir

Donations/tributes:

Franciscan Fathers Slovenian Catholic Mission

14246 Main St.

Lemont, Illinois 60439

lemont-svs.org

Mary Catherine Pangrcic Kosir left us to be with Jesus on Saturday, February 26th at the age of 93. She was active and a doer until the end, directing her daughter as she prepared to make “krofe” before Lent and “advising” her on preparing foods for the freezer. She loved life and her family, but looked ahead clear-eyed to completing her journey in heaven. She was Auntie and godmother to many children.

Mary was intrepid, adventurous, fierce and determined all her life. She was born in Depue, Illinois to John and Mary Pangrcic, immigrants from Slovenia who came here to give their children a better life. They did give Mary the gift of US citizenship but they returned to Slovenia when Mary was 2. She spent the voyage in steerage in her mother’s arms. She grew up in Slovenia on the family farm on the banks of the Krka River, and dreamed of being a dressmaker. When Adolph Hitler captured Slovenia in World War II, she and her entire family were transported to Germany and placed on a wealthy German’s farm as slave labor. As a child she was sent to a German school to “forget” her mother language. She described the hunger and fear as she dodged Allied air raids, but also the closeness with her family and the care of her parents in the face of indescribable chaos. She and her family returned to their farm after the war, and she took positions as a housekeeper in Ljubljana and as an assistant in a TB rehabilitation hospital in the mountains. She learned her fabulous cooking and baking skills from her work as a chief cook and housekeeper, learning how to make Austrian pastries. She described asking the lady of the house if she could take contents of a “pasta drawer” with leftover noodles and macaroni to her parents on a visit. She was given permission! She loved her mother and father and learned much about farming and gardening from them. These jobs helped support her family as she gave them her earnings.

But something pulled her back to the United States. Her brothers Rudy, Joseph, and Frank had already immigrated to Illinois, and she joined them there to help her parents and family wherever she could. It was her father who convinced her to go saying that she will be able to help the family more. Mary was fearless and left her parents and family to move “back” to the US, not knowing the language and customs at all. She worked as a factory worker at Westclox and was close with her brothers and their families in LaSalle, Peru, and Lyons.

She met her husband, Michael Kosir, at St. Mary’s in Lemont, Illinois. This was a Slovenian Catholic Mission of the Franciscan order, and they hosted Slovenian picnics and gatherings. Michael was looking for a Slovenian Catholic wife to join him in Detroit, and “met girls” by carrying his camera with him and asking for pictures. He would then get their address and get to know them. When they met, they were passing each other in the doorway, one going in and the other out. He said “Dobr dan gospodicna” meaning “Good Day, Miss” and when she replied, he followed her back. He met Mary this way, and took a picture of this beautiful woman on the steps of the Retreat House there. It was the beginning of their love story and a marriage that ended after 52 years with Michael’s death in 2006.

Mary lived in Detroit then together with Michael built their home in Warren, Michigan. She lived there until the end of her life, in familiar surroundings and with the furnishings and landscaped grounds she and Michael created. Mary thrived on simple pleasures, and even when she was no longer able to leave her home she greatly enjoyed starting seedlings, tending plants, experimenting with seeds and plants her daughters brought into the house for her. She was thrifty all her life, always re-using and recycling small items and furnishings. She remembered all too well her early life in poverty and need, and taught her daughters to cherish living simply. She also taught her daughters to cook and bake, to enjoy good and healthy food and produce, to watch the seasons, to keep a clean house, but not to forget the simple joys of rest and good food and fresh air.

She was actively charitable to her family in Europe, family here, friends and neighbors. Down the street she would give a large pot of barley soup, bread and other food to a struggling family on regular basis. Years later we found out how the children appreciated and remembered eating well. Anyone who needed help, she would provide it. She and Michael would load up bags with fresh vegetables from the garden for visitors. They would donate extra fruit to the Capuchin Mission. They gave money for relatives to buy a tractor for a farm, a cow for another farm. Somehow, they always managed though Michael worked as a nonunion toolmaker.

She loved her church, St. Louise de Marillac, was a founding member and supported all her life. When her children were young, she assisted CCD classes and supported Christian Women service committees in meeting the church’s needs. She created cuttings from her plants for Easter, and rolled and cut egg noodles from donated eggs for fundraising sales. She never considered any of this a chore, but a joy and a part of her life to support her parish.

Visitation will be held on Thursday March 3, 2022 from 3:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. with a rosary Thursday 7:00 p.m. at Edward Swanson & Son Funeral Home 30351 Dequindre Road Madison Heights, MI. 48071. Instate Friday 9:30 a.m. until time of mass 10:00 a.m. St. Louise de Marillac Church 2500 E 12 Mile Rd. Warren, Michigan. Burial Resurrection Cemetery Clinton Township, Michigan.