June C. Lorge

The Visitation for June Cody Lorge, 95, of Palatine, will be held Sunday, June 2, 2019, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the St. Joseph’s Home, 80 W. Northwest Hwy, Palatine, IL 60067. The Funeral Mass will begin on Monday, June 3, 2019, 11:00 a.m. also at the St. Joseph’s Home. An Interment will follow at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery, Elwood, IL.

June was born to Charles and Grace Gerty Cody on May 22, 1924 in Chicago, joined husband, Edmund Lorge, son, Michael Lorge, and her brother, Charles “Chuck” Cody in heaven on May 26, 2019. June was the loving mother of Frank Lorge (Melissa) of North Little Rock, AR, Mark Lorge of North Little Rock, AR , Eileen Knapp (Jon) of Lake Zurich IL, Suzanne Tyrell of Denver CO, and Marie Lorge of Warrenville, IL; cherished grandmother of Mark (Jill), Cody (Megan), Katherine, Stephen (Amy), all of North Little Rock, AR; and Gregory Knapp of Lake Zurich IL; adored great-grandmother of Ellie, Jack, Lennie June, and Henry, all of North Little Rock, AR; dear sister of Eileen Patricia Farley of Boise, ID, fond aunt and friend to many during her long and happy life.

June was a graduate of Mercy High School in Chicago in 1942 and received her diploma from the Chicago Teachers College in 1946.

From 2013 until her passing, she resided at St. Joseph’s Home, and had all of her needs met by the absolutely wonderful Little Sisters of the Poor. We cannot thank the nuns enough for the care they provided to June, most especially in the latter stages of her life.

June was the oldest of the three children of Charles and Grace Cody. Her brother, Charles “Chuck” Cody, was four years younger and was followed by her sister Pat three years later. They lived on the south side of Chicago near the beach and the Museum of Science and Industry. Then in 1928, the family moved to Western Springs and built a home there.

After graduating from the eighth grade, the family moved back to the south side of the city where she attended Parker High School for three years. She then transferred to Mercy High School, an all-girls Catholic high school, for her senior year. She preferred Mercy High School because she knew she received a much better education than from the public school. June went straight to the Chicago Teachers College. Her grandfather, Frank Gerty, raised his children to understand the importance of education, and in turn, June and her siblings were raised with the same appreciation.

It was in her senior year at the Chicago Teachers College that June met Ed Lorge, who left school three years prior to serve in the United States Army during World War II. After graduation, she briefly taught school, and then, much to her parent’s dismay, went to work for American Airlines as a stewardess in 1946. She was a true pioneer in the early days of the airline industry. The stewardess job was more interesting and more challenging to her than teaching, and it enabled her to greatly expand her horizons. She flew with American Airlines until 1948 and married Ed on June 12, 1948. Later in life she continued her passion for traveling, both domestically and internationally.

Over the next four years, June and Ed had three boys, Mike, Frank and Mark, and she dedicated her life to raising them. Five years after Mark was born, they had three girls, Eileen, Suzanne and Marie, within the next five and a half years. The family lived in the Merrimac Park area until 1962 when they moved near Portage Park, in part to be near the pool where all three boys were on the swim team. The children attended school at St. Pascal and Our Lady of Victory.

With a houseful of six active children, Mom was pretty busy cooking and taking care of everyone. There were years where one of Ed’s nephews and his father, Aloys Lorge, lived with the family, as June and Ed were passionate about the welfare of our extended family. We had a full house, but June kept it afloat while Ed was working, and they both worked hard to keep up with swim team practices, swim meets, school and church. June was taught to sew by her mother and made many items for the girls. She later took tailoring classes and made suits and outfits in the latest styles. She helped Sue get started making clothes.

In 1971, after the boys were away in college, the family moved to Glen Ellyn. June became friends with the realtor who helped find our new family home. From that experience, June developed an interest in real estate. She then received her license and sold houses for more than a decade. June was also a very active volunteer during her life. She volunteered in the church resale store in Wheaton for a number of years, and she also volunteered to help pregnant women in need.

June was very interested in cooking and trying new recipes. She had one of the first microwaves in the neighborhood and later worked in a microwave cooking store in town where she taught cooking lessons. Over the years, June entered many cooking contests, and one time she won a diamond ring! She had a knack for fine tuning her recipes with help from her taste-testing daughters. As a result, many of her recipes ended up in local church cookbooks and even a cookbook for busy working women.

June became a skilled bridge player and played in many groups for nearly 30 years. Her partners often commented on how well she played, as well as how much she enjoyed it. It took a while to convince Ed to play, but once he joined her, they had a lot of great times together playing bridge with their friends.

As a family, we traveled around Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, and Florida. Upon becoming empty nesters, June and Ed continued to travel around the US and went to Hawaii for their 25th anniversary. They often visited Arkansas to see four of their grandchildren. June traveled twice to Europe; the first time was for her 60th birthday, and the second time was a few years later. She toured with a church group and visited many cathedrals in France, Spain, Italy, and later Ireland and England.

After Ed retired, they moved a few times between Glen Ellyn and Wheaton, and then moved into a senior living community (The Meadows) in Glen Ellyn in 2003. June became active in their exercise programs – Tai Chi, water aerobics, and enjoyed attending plays and musicals with other residents. She was later involved with the residents’ committees, and that led to her being president of the 3rd floor for residents at Little Sisters of the Poor. Her commitment to family was of the utmost importance to her and she was delighted to have five grandchildren and most excited to have four great-grandchildren. The babies gave her much happiness and joy, and she loved knowing her legacy would continue through them.

In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Joseph’s Home may be made in memory of June to the Little Sisters of the Poor, 80 W. Northwest Highway, Palatine, IL 60067, or visit www.littlesistersofthepoorpalatine.org.