Laura A. Fanella

A Celebration of Life for Laura Anne Fanella, 62, of Antioch, will be held privately.

Laura was born April 30, 1962, in Chicago, and passed away June 23, 2024, in Chicago.

Laura was the beloved wife of Jeffrey A. Fanella; loving mother of Lea and Ian; dear daughter of Nancy S. (Neander) Olmsted and Robert V. Jacobsen; stepdaughter of Jean (Helen Jean Peterson) Jacobsen; fond sister of William (Bill) Jacobsen and Wendy Jacobsen.

In lieu of flowers, in memory of Laura, donations are being accepted at the following website www.LCFPD.org/endowment for a path side bench at her favorite Lake County Forest Preserve site, Hastings Lake.

Laura grew up in Palatine, Illinois, and attended Palatine High school, graduating in 1980. She had various jobs and positions, including becoming a full-fledged member of the Groinettes. (ask some of her surviving friends/members). She then met her husband, Jeff Fanella (also known as what’s-his-name to some of Laura’s friends). They married in 1992, and after honeymooning in Jamaica, moved to Round Lake Beach, Illinois, where they built a new house and a family. They welcomed their twins, Lea and Ian, in November of 1999.

Raising twins and starting a family, had such an influence on Laura that she decided to pursue a different career path, leaving the private sector and furthering her education, as what would eventually evolve into Public Service as a Kindergarten Teacher. She changed her profession after earning her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree, after which she worked in Elementary District 34, in her new home, now in Antioch. After working initially as a reading specialist, she accepted a Kindergarten Teacher’s position, which she held until her passing.

When not working, Laura enjoyed time spent with family and friends, vacationing in the mountains of Colorado, hiking and skiing, and still had enough reserve energy to coax family members into joining her for a walk in the Forest Preserves of Lake County. 

She was also very fond of reading and listening to various genres of music and traveling throughout the country as well as internationally.