Marie Halla, 88,, who cooked breads, muffins and cookies every day while also working for 25 years making components for telephones and switchboards at Western Electric, died Monday, Feb. 7, of heart problems in MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn. Mrs. Halla, who was born in Chicago but was a Riverside resident for the past 40 years, married Edward Halla in 1930. To make ends meet, she worked nights at Western Electric as a solderer, said her daughter Carol. After her husband died in 1989, she kept busy by joining the MacNeal Hospital Volunteer Services, where she crocheted dolls for young patients and made Christmas ornaments for patients. Mrs. Halla was known for her hoska, a sweet bread with raisins, nuts and almonds on top, and her banana-oatmeal cookies and muffins. Saturdays were special for Mrs. Halla and her daughter, who started the day going out for breakfast, followed by trips to the grocery store and other errands while window shopping around town. “My mom was my best friend,” her daughter said. Mrs. Halla was a past worthy matron of the Lawndale Chapter 749 of the Order of Eastern Star, a Masonic order and a past worthy high priestess of the Shepherd Shrine 49 WSJ. In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Halla is survived by a son, Ronald; another daughter, Patricia Swiercz; 10 grandchildren; and 11 great-grandchildren. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday in Ivins Funeral Home, 80 E. Burlington St., Riverside.
