Celia Kominsky, 91, a longtime volunteer for charitable organizations, died Tuesday, March 19, in her North Side home of cancer. As a teen, Mrs. Kominsky worked in the family bakery on Roosevelt Road, just downstairs from where the family lived. After graduating from high school, she worked at a dress manufacturer and modeled dresses for the buyers. She and her husband, Julius, were married in a double ceremony with his best friend and Mrs. Kominsky’s sister. Later they moved to an apartment on the North Side. Mrs. Kominsky volunteered for the Cancer Prevention Center, Asthmatic Children’s Aid and other groups. Decades ago, she helped raise money for Chicago doctors to learn about the pap smear test so they could bring it to Chicago, her family said. Mrs. Kominsky’s husband, field supervisor for the family business, Economy Plumbing, died in 1958. Mrs. Kominsky listened to talk radio for hours a day, took adult education courses and read only non-fiction books. “She was very well-informed,” said her granddaughter, Jill Gelb. Mrs. Kominsky didn’t back away from speaking her mind to anyone, including her brother, Donald P. Jacobs, longtime dean of the Kellogg School of Management. Besides her brother, she is survived by a son, Arnold Blair Kominsky; a sister, Mona “Red” Widen; two grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Services have been held.
