Mary Catherine Plotke, 91, of Lemont, formerly of Oak Brook, one of the first teachers in the Head Start program in Chicago, died of heart failure Thursday, June 27, in Mother Theresa Home in Lemont. Born of Irish immigrant parents on Chicago’s West Side, Mrs. Plotke graduated from St. Mary’s High School and attended Chicago Teachers College. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in education from Loyola University in Chicago in 1932, she taught kindergarten in Chicago Public Schools. “My mother was a very bright, independent woman,” said her daughter, Fran Pettersen. Mrs. Plotke left teaching for several years to raise her family, but in the 1960s became one of the first preschool teachers in Chicago’s Head Start program. She later was made a coordinator for the program, overseeing the curriculum at several schools. “Those years with Head Start were some of the best she had teaching,” Pettersen said. “She worked with disadvantaged children, some with serious developmental problems, but she could really see the growth. Some of those kids just blossomed with her help.” Mrs. Plotke ended her career at Roosevelt High School on Chicago’s Northwest Side, where she was involved in the early childhood education program. “One of her favorite things to do was to integrate music into her teaching, because she felt children really responded to that,” Pettersen said. She was also a seamstress and took great pride in outfitting her children. Other survivors include four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Saturday in the chapel of Mother Theresa Home, 1270 Franciscan Drive, Lemont.
