Mary A Cozzani

Loving mother, doting grandmother, and genuine friend, Mary Allen Cozzani, 83, of Glen Ellyn passed away peacefully in her sleep early Thursday morning, April 11, 2019, while in hospice care at Northwestern Medicine - Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.

Born on September 23, 1935, in College Park, GA, Mary was the youngest of eight children to Samuel and Bessie Allen. A fiercely independent young woman, Mary exemplified honesty, integrity and equality in the way she lived her life. A graduate of College Park High School in 1953, Mary was a member of the National Honor Society, very active in Student Government, a member of their Championship Basketball Team, and a two-time winner of “Best All Around Girl”! In 1958, Mary graduated from Crawford W Long Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Atlanta, GA, and later met and married a newly immigrated physician, Dr. Luciano Cozzani, while both were in residency at what is now the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.

Mary and Luciano ultimately settled in River Forest, IL, opening a medical practice (OB/GYN) near a growing Italian-American population. She quickly learned to speak Italian and how to prepare the requisite traditional Italian meals from her mother-in-law - while simultaneously raising three children and seemingly effortlessly navigating the clashing cultural and familial challenges of the Deep South, the Midwest, and Northern Italy. Mary demonstrated her support of the cultural shifts of the times through her relentless and active participation in the Oak Park & River Forest League of Women Voters and the Oak Park & River Forest Garden Club (whose mission is “to enrich and beautify our communities”).

With her children in college and beyond, Mary embarked on a career in Interior Design and Sales with Baker Interiors Group, first in Chicago and later in Atlanta. Mary returned to the Chicago area in 2005 to be closer to her grandchildren, to whom she showed endless love, compassion, and encouragement in her invaluably pragmatic way. When not working, or smothering her grandchildren with love, Mary enjoyed traveling with family and friends to see renowned museums and sites across the US and Italy.

Mary was preceded in death by her former husband, Luciano, who passed in 2000. Surviving Mary are her two sons, John and wife Kate, and Charles and wife Theresa; daughter Maria and husband Shree; 10 grandchildren; sister, Lucille Bowles; sisters-in-law, Gwendolyn Allen, Jackie Allen and Carla Cozzani; and brothers-in-law Kristiano Cozzani and wife Anna, Corrado Cozzani and wife Elena, and Virgilio Cozzani and wife Luisella.

To have known Mary is to have been touched by Mary. Her kindness and generosity were boundless, but her tolerance for the duplicitous finite.

A service for Mary will be scheduled at a later date in her hometown of Atlanta, GA. In lieu of flowers, please contribute funds in her memory at the American Cancer Society (www.donate3.cancer.org).