Evelyn E. Colbrese, 80, who once taught grade-school children in a one-room schoolhouse, died Thursday at the Sun Bridge Care & Rehabilitation Center in La Grange. Mrs. Colbrese, a graduate of Illinois State University in Normal, began working as a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse near Downstate Pontiac, said her daughter-in-law, Leila Colbrese. “She would get there early, light a fire in the potbellied stove and heat the school up,” Leila Colbrese said. Mrs. Colbrese married Nick Colbrese, raised a family and later returned to teaching at the former Parkside Grammar School in Thornton. She retired in 1979 after 15 years of teaching. Her husband died in 1993. “She was a very practical, down-to-earth woman who enjoyed her family,” said her son, William. Mrs. Colbrese also is survived by another son, Nick; a daughter, Barbara Chapin; two sisters, Ethel Rapp and Doris Oberholtzer; and nine grandchildren. Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Tews Funeral Home, 18230 S. Dixie Highway, Homewood. Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Monday at Infant Jesus of Prague Church, Flossmoor Road and Leavitt Avenue, Flossmoor.
