Eunice Gac was born on Chicago’s Lower West Side in a house built by her grandfather across the street from St. Adalbert Catholic Church. She would later volunteer as the parish secretary for more than four decades until stepping down a month ago. “Everybody in the neighborhood knew her,” said her son-in-law, David Lux. “If you needed something from or for the church, she would take care of you.” Beginning in 1971, she also volunteered at the VA Lakeside Medical Center as the representative for her local VFW post. “She called them `the boys’ even though most were her age or older,” said her son-in-law. Mrs. Gac, 79, died of a stroke, Friday, Aug. 13, in Methodist Hospital of Chicago. After high school, she worked as a bookkeeper at a local savings and loan, until she fell in love with Chester Gac. They married in 1948 and lived in the same Pilsen neighborhood where they had grown up until moving to Cicero in 1975. If the local VFW post wanted to have a party for the veterans at the medical center, Mrs. Gac was in charge of arranging for the event as well as handling any donations from the post to the hospital. Every week, she coordinated a group of volunteers who escorted the non-ambulatory veterans to their appointments in the medical center’s various clinics. When the medical center later became an outpatient facility, she and her volunteers on Fridays would greet veterans arriving for care and help them to their appointments, her son-in-law said. “Between the church and the VA, she did a lot of work for both,” he said. Her husband died in 1995. Survivors include her daughter, Marty Lux; and a granddaughter, Elizabeth Lux. Visitation will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday in Nelson Funeral Home, 5149 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago. Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in St. Adalbert Catholic Church, 1650 W. 17th St., Chicago.
