Lilia A. Vignono

Lilia “Lil” Vignono, 99, of Batavia, Illinois, died peacefully at home on August 2nd, 2023. Lil, the only child of Annetta and Gus Vignono, was born on January 24, 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska. She loved living in her home state, especially when spending summer vacations with her cousins at her Aunt Angelina’s vegetable farm in Ralston. But, when Lil was five, the Great Depression began, forcing her family to move to Chicago, Illinois where her father, a chef, could find work. She spent the rest of her childhood living on the South Side of Chicago. When the United States entered WWII, Lil was a senior in high school. Heeding her father’s instructions “you have to work for what you want”, she joined the United States Cadet Nurses Corps after graduation. In doing so, she not only received her nursing degree tuition free, but also the satisfaction of knowing she was helping her country. Lil spent the next 14 years as a surgical nurse in the neurosurgery department. She loved the complexity and fast-paced nature of her work, but she also wanted to go to college. To accomplish this goal, she became a visiting nurse which allowed her to attend classes at night. She received a BA in Philosophy, with a minor in Education, followed by a MA in Education, from Loyola University Chicago. Lil wanted to continue studying to earn her PhD, but the university told her she was too old. Frustrated but undeterred, she decided to become a school nurse in the Chicago public schools. She worked at Morgan Park High School from 1959 until she retired 30 years later. There she met a biology teacher who became her "sister from another mother” and best friend for over 60 years, Violet Schmidt. Lil spent her retirement years being very active at Covenant Living at the Holmstad in Batavia, IL, the same independent living apartment complex which Violet and her other best friend Shirley Spikings called home. Lil was a Midwestern girl through and through - down-to-earth, hard working, loyal, fun, slightly tomboyish and fiercely independent. And like a true Omahan, Lil loved her steak “rare with the blood flowing.” Her presence will be truly missed. Lil is survived by her cousins Larry Schiratti, Mary Ann Muff, Denise Meredith (née Muff) and JoDee Burke (née Bortolotti) and many others, Violet’s grand-niece Mary Shepard, and her wonderful Covenant caregivers Lucy Plachczynska, Vicky Sheldon and Beth Weigel and many others.

A burial service will be held in Nebraska where she will be laid to rest with her parents at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.