Lorraine Catherine Przewoznik

Born on April 20th, 1927 in a farmhouse with no electricity. She was delivered into this world by a local Native American midwife. She grew up on a dairy farm in Pulaski northwest of Green Bay. Her parents, Frank and Victoria Siolka had ten children; Stanley, Joann, Virginia, Lorraine, Alfred, Norbert, Leonard, Chester, Frank Jr and the youngest Bernadine. She was called Loretta, her baptismal name, until she graduated high school and is still called Loretta by childhood friends.

At age 18, Lorraine moved to Chicago for work. She lived with her 2 older sisters in an apartment across from Wrigley Field. She learned a lot of life lessons in the big city. Some of these being how to find her way using the grid system of the city, the importance of a good pair of glasses and the hard work it takes to save enough money to purchase new furniture for her family back in Pulaski and the joy of being able to do so. She also learned how to swim and became Red Cross certified and has loved the water ever since.

Lorraine made friends while working at Illinois Bell Telephone. Her way with numbers earned her promotions and classes at De Paul University in accounting. She was on the management track when love struck. She met Joseph Przewoznik at a dance and they quickly fell in love, getting married on May 21, 1955. Soon after, their daughter Theresa arrived in June 1956.

In 1960, they moved into their forever home on N. Leamington Ave in Chicago where they planted roots and grew their family. She brought a small town feel to Leamington Ave connecting with neighbors and church. Soon after moving, their son Stanley was born in April 1961. While raising her children, she made a loving home, making all of their meals from scratch as well as some of their clothes, Halloween costumes, curtains to decorate their home and table clothes to line their dinner table. In addition to that, she actively supported her children’s interest by being a den mother, participating in Girl Scouts and The Mother’s Club at Our Lady of Victory Parish. Her other interests included baking, sewing, polka dancing and rooting for her favorite teams the Chicago Cubs and the Green Bay Packers.

Lorraine was known for many signature dishes; coleslaw, apple slice, Lamb Cake, lemon jello with peaches and maraschino cherries, lime jello with pineapple and sour cream, kolacky, pierogi, borscht and her famous butter cookies. She always made them for family get-togethers. She was an avid baker, a great cook, and an even more gracious host, consistently hosting Easter Saturday, Father’s Day, Thanksgiving and a traditional Polish Christmas Eve every year for the whole family.

When times were tough, Lorraine got cooking. She returned to the workforce to help support her family at Roosevelt High School where she remained until her retirement. In retirement, she spent time traveling from coast to coast, seeing almost all 50 states. Throughout her life and especially during this time, she loved to take pictures of parties, holidays, family, friends and travel. Her most favorite passion was Polka Dancing with Joe. They would go to Polka festivals all over the Midwest wearing custom red vests made by Lorraine. They were even crowned King and Queen of Polka at the Michigan Polka Fest.

Her heart was always in Pulaski with her big family. In fact, every summer she took her own little family up to Wisconsin to see her big Siolka family enjoy the Polka Festival and have Theresa and Stan experience a taste of the farm life. It was a taste they savored and that provided many fond memories.

Her son, Stanley, married his wife Jill in October of 1987. In August of 1993, Lorraine became a grandmother, a Busia, welcoming her first grandchild Michelle into the world. It wasn’t long after that

her second grandchild, Daniel, joined in June 1996, followed by Lily in 2001. Her grandchildren were the joy of her life. She loved holding them as babies, playing with them as toddlers and going to all their activities. She was the go to expert for sewing Girl Scout and Boy Scout patches. She loved to make their favorite goodies like cheesecake, butter cookies and apple slice. She also loved to surprise them by coming over with donuts from the bakery and fresh rye bread for Daniel. She always gave them the warmest, loving hugs.

In January of 2003, her daughter Theresa married the love of her life Mark Heyes. They reside in California where Lorraine enjoyed visiting them numerous times. She was so proud of the life Theresa and Mark made for themselves.

We said good-bye to Lorraine Loretta Siolka Przewoznik at the age of 90 on February 11, 2018 after a long journey home. Her husband, Joseph, went on ahead in July 2017 to prepare the way for her trip to heaven, making sure the Polka band was ready for them to dance again, planting flowers so she’d have a nice garden to look at. She’ll be welcomed with open waiting arms by her husband, Joe, her parents, her brothers Stanley and Alfred, her sister Joann, her nephew Larry, Gregory and James, and great nephew Trent, ready to return the warm embrace she so openly gave to all of us here on earth.