Passed away on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 after a long battle with Lewy Body Dementia. She is survived by her children Annette Saylor (Tim), Joe Dubauskas (Audra), and Terri Locher (William) and grandchildren Tim Saylor, Haley Locher and Cody Locher and siblings Pat Stiles, Larry DePyper, Mary Layman, Jeanette Edwards and Kathy Willaert.
Marie was born in 1941 in Mason City, IA to Marjorie and Sylvester Citrowski, who were in a marriage that was doomed before it began (too young and too soon). Her mother then married Hector DePyper. He adopted Marie, but life was not kind for the family, and she went to live with her grandparents when she was very young. Marie had a somewhat spoiled childhood, being the baby in the household. She had fond memories of working in her grandfather’s pharmacy in Echo, MN. At the ripe old age of eighteen, she got a job with a company selling magazines door to door and went to New York for a few months (she wanted to see the world). The job then took her to Chicago, where she quickly tired of magazine-selling and got a job as a secretary at ITT Kellogg. Also working there was a handsome young engineer named Stanley Dubauskas, who was impressed by her beauty and smarts. After an eight month courtship, the two were married in May 1961 and moved to a tiny apartment in Cicero, IL.
That tiny apartment quickly became too small with the arrival of their first child, so they bought a bungalow and a brown, wood-paneled station wagon and began living the American dream. Two and half years and two children later, Marie had her hands full. In order to retain her sanity, she sought out interesting, part-time jobs. She sold Beeline (like Tupperware, but with women’s clothes!), stuffed envelopes, delivered detergent samples, and many other interesting things. When all of the children were in school (finally!), she went back to work full-time. She wanted her own money, to do with what she would. And what she wanted to do was travel.
Every summer she took us to Lake Inn Resort in South Haven, MI for one week, without Dad! In 1971, she took all three children, by plane, to California. Three years later she drove us, and our grandmother (her mother-in-law!), in July, in a yellow Maverick with no air conditioning, to Florida. It was hotter than heck, but we had a great time anyway. She was so brave and determined. She took both of her daughters to Europe, separately, because she wanted to go twice. And she worked for and paid for all of these trips herself, never dipping into the small household budget. The only family trips we took (with Dad), were to Canada to fish, and she enjoyed those trips just as much as the others. Over the years she took many trips with her grown children, and their children, to different states in this beautiful country.
Marie was an avid reader and enjoyed knitting, crocheting and decorating her home (including a wallpapered ceiling and green kitchen cabinets). She was a Girl Scout troop leader and a Cub Scout leader. She bowled for many years and belonged to two Bunco clubs (the house was never as clean as when the “Bunco ladies” were coming). She joined the Clarendon Hills Women’s Club when we moved to Clarendon Hills in 1982. Marie retired at 65 from Air Liquide America where she was an Administrative Assistant, a job she loved. As time went by, illness crept in and destroyed her ability to keep up her interests and activities. In the end, only one thing mattered. When asked recently what she liked to do, she immediately responded, “Spend time with my children and grandchildren.”
My mother was the most patient person I’ve ever known. I told her that just two weeks ago, how she put up with our nonsense when we were younger and with our father’s illness (dementia too) more recently. She just smiled. And she was patiently waiting for the pandemic (what she understood of it) to end so that she could once more travel out into the world, if only to go eat at a restaurant. We will miss her beautiful smile, and the way her eyes would light up when she realized who we were. The world is a lesser place without her, but heaven has a new angel. Enjoy the cookies Mom.
Visitation Monday, January 11, 2021 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm at Mount Auburn Funeral Home, 4101 S. Oak Park Avenue, Stickney, IL 60402. Mount Auburn Funeral Home will adhere to current COVID restrictions in the state of Illinois, which allows 10 or fewer guests for services, no rotation at this time.
Funeral Chapel Service Monday, January 11, 2021 at 12:00 pm at Mount Auburn Funeral Home, Fr. Rick Castillo officiating.
Burial at Mount Auburn Memorial Park to follow services.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MountAuburnFuneralHome.com for the Dubauskas family.
Proper social distancing must be practiced and all guests will be required to wear facemasks at all times.
No food will be allowed at the funeral home. Thank you for your understanding.
For more information, please call (708) 749-2033 or visit www.mountauburnfuneralhome.com
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