Although the dreams of Emelda “Patsy” Hilbring were humble, she achieved them and left a rich legacy in the form of her family. “All she ever wanted to do, she said, was get married and have a family, and she certainly attained that goal,” said her daughter, Patricia Hilbring. Mrs. Hilbring, 80, of the Chatham neighborhood died Monday, Sept. 6, in Northwestern Memorial Hospital, a day after she suffered a massive stroke. A twin and one of five children in the Gregoire family, she was raised in the Woodlawn and Englewood neighborhoods and graduated from Englewood High School. In 1944, while working at Kellogg Switchboard and Supply Co., she met George Hilbring Jr., who also worked at the factory and was introduced to her through his aunt. They were married in 1945, living first in Park Manor and later moving to Chatham. In the mid-1950s, Mrs. Hilbring started working as a finishing operator at Union Carbide, making casings for processed meats. She worked there for 30 years. She and her husband, who became a Chicago police officer in 1954, opened the Cheetah Lounge, a neighborhood bar at 73rd Street and Jeffery Boulevard, in the early 1960s. They later opened Mr. P’s Delicatessen across the street from their bar. They closed both businesses in 1979. Mrs. Hilbring took great pleasure from her family, said her son Billy. “Her work was devoted to providing for her family and that’s all she wanted, to have her family,” he said. “She was a PhD in family-hood.” In addition to her daughter and son, Mrs. Hilbring is survived by two other sons, Donald, and George III; two sisters, Aleda Rice and Helen Daste; two brothers, Oliver and Edward Gregoire; seven grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday in St. Clotilde Catholic Church, 8430 S. Calumet Ave., Chicago. A funeral mass will follow.
