Cecelia "Ceil" M. Ogden

December 7, 1947 –January 9, 2023

Ceil was born in Poland on December 7, 1947. When she was a small child, her mother and father left for the United States to start a new life in Chicago, fleeing war-torn Poland. Ceil was left in the care of her grandparents. In 1953, when she was six years old and with only two dresses, she embarked on the journey of a lifetime to join her parents in America and meet her older brother Les. Ceil’s emigration to the US was so inspirational that it caught the attention of a flight attendant who reached out to the Chicago Tribune. Her family reunion was a feature story in the publication. It is safe to say that from an early age, Ceil was brave, courageous, and independent. Qualities that would only strengthen and define who Ceil would become as a woman.

Ceil was a high achiever in high school, graduating as valedictorian of her class. While attending the University of Illinois, Ceil waited tables at the campus bar, The Red Lion Inn, one of the top 5 college bars in the country at the time. It was at that bar that Ceil met John Ogden, the bartender and a bouncer. REO Speed Wagon was one of the house bands at the time and John and Ceil had many wild nights together. It is hard to talk about Ceil without talking about John. They were married for 52 years and were completely devoted to one another. For those who knew Ceil it will come to no surprise that one night in 1970, when John arrived home to their apartment after an all-nighter, he found Ceil awake, and waiting for him. When he opened the door, she looked at him and said, “Are we getting married or what?” John pulled up the Chicago Bears schedule taped to the fridge, picked an open weekend, and told her yes on Nov 22,1970. They were married on that day in Champagne-Urbana, Illinois, seven years to the day of Kennedy’s assassination. Friends, players from the Illinois Continental Rifles (a semi-professional football team), and family attended their wedding. Ceil was quite the stunning bride, wearing a long dark wig. Monday, the day after their wedding, both John and Ceil had to go to class. Their apartment had 2 inches of booze on the floor and neither could find a dry pair of shoes to wear.

In 1971, John and Ceil moved to Charlotte, NC. Here they continued to grow their legacy with famous all-night poker parties at their house. It was not uncommon to have the mailman, police, questionable characters, and elected officials all at the table. Their German Shepherds would sit below the poker table growling at certain guests. Ceil was the ultimate hostess, which is just one of the reasons that so many people were drawn to her. She loved entertaining and always made you laugh, whether it was laughing at herself with her or listening to her stories.

Ceil had many aliases and nicknames because she had so many friends and so many interesting characteristics that made her one-of-a-kind. She was known as Turk by many of her oldest friends. When you were with her and you turned your head for just a split second she would refill your glass, otherwise known as being Turked. When she and John were not partying together, they were steadily growing a business. They founded Collision News, a monthly publication that went out to the automotive industry. Ceil would sell ads for the paper and John would put the content together.

When Ceil was not working on the paper, she was trying to place abandoned or disabled pets. Ceil fiercely loved animals, maybe even more so than people. She devoted a ton of time to the humane society placing animals and collecting many herself. Over the years she had many dogs and cats. Count, Regal, Chevas, Rusty, Annie, Blackie, Bootsie, Biscuit, Gwenie, Sandy, Missy, Biscuit, and Ariel to name a few. Whenever you would go out to eat with Ceil, she would always ask for extra to-go boxes so she could scrape every morsel left to take home to the raccoons. She was just that kind of person.

Ceil even domesticated a feral cat, Blackie, by feeding him and befriending him over a six year period. After finally being brave enough to walk into the house for the first time, Blackie decided he had found his forever home and never left.

Ceil would later become known as the General, Sergeant, or Sarge for short. She could be quite militant at times, but it was an endearing quality for those who knew her. She was fearless, took crap from no one, and could beat anyone in a chugging contest. Ceil was brave and courageous in her fight against cancer. She beat the odds like no one could for a long time, but only Ceil could do that. You see she had the innate ability to be stronger than most humans are capable of.

Left behind to keep her memory alive and strong are her husband John, brother Les Banach of Chicago and his children Maria Banach and Charmaine Farber, her sister-in-law Sylvia Banach and her children Rachel Sears, Jenny Pascal Geertjes and Joe Banach, John’s sister Donna Nesbitt and partner Jerry Cinq-Mars, Donna’s children Laurie Donato and husband Matt Donato, Rob Nesbitt and wife Amanda Nesbitt, Ceil’s great nieces and nephew Kate and Jack Donato, and Riley Nesbitt, and her cousin Jana Tappmeyer. Turk, you will live on in all your glory, may we all be warriors in life like you.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.McEwenPinevilleChapel.com for the Ogden family.