“Reading the scratch sheets again?”
My husband likes to gently tease me about my regular reading of the obituary pages in this paper and in its new parent publisher, the Chicago Tribune.
I’ve always read the obituaries, probably because of my reporter-curious side and my sentimental side. I’m no shrink, but I think I read them to get some sort of meaning out of the life-death cycle and to use descriptions of people’s lives as a yardstick of sorts to measure against my own.
It’s particularly humbling to read obituaries of the Greatest Generation, the dwindling group who served so bravely and quietly and who came back to build great careers and families. If you read enough of these life summaries, you also see how so many of these World War II generation men and women gave tirelessly to their communities.
Recently, I was struck by obituaries for two local residents who have passed on. One was the grandfather of a young woman I recently wrote about, singer and Lyons Township High School student Josie Dunne. Her grandfather passed away a couple of weeks ago, and from what I gleaned from his obituary, led a remarkable life with implications for those of us still in La Grange.
James Dunne was 88 and a naval veteran of World War II. Like others in his generation, he served his country and came back and served those around him, from his seven children and 21 grandchildren to his church, St. Francis Xavier in La Grange, to his role as entrepreneur and owner of Dunne Oil Company. If you’ve heard of or played church league basketball around here, you can thank Dunne, who started that program for youngsters that didn’t make their high school teams. While incredibly busy with his own company and large family, he made time to be involved in the La Grange Little League, the St. Vincent De Paul society and as a Sunday school teacher.
Meantime, the recent obituary for Sue Daly caught my eye, because, like Dunne, she was known for what she gave to others. If you’ve lived in this area for a while, you surely remember the ABC7 reporter and anchor Joel Daly.
Joel Daly started out doing TV and radio news for the U.S. Army, and he and Sue lived in Panama for a while. When he came to Chicago for his TV news career, they put down roots here in the La Grange area and raised three kids.
While he got home late many evenings after anchoring the 10 p.m. news, Sue Daly not only took care of the needs of their children, she took in at least 25 foster babies over the years.
Twenty-five babies who needed a home and some love — that is pretty amazing, when you stop and think about it. I complain having to schlep kids to practice after a long day at work, much less taking in babies or starting church programs.
I wonder, and worry, sometimes that we are losing more than these gems of people. Are we also losing a way of life that focuses on giving back so much? Being a room mom is great and all, but am I missing an opportunity to really share my talents, as Dunne and Daly did?
It’s something to ponder, certainly. A life, summed up in a paragraph, seems most inspirational when it’s not as much about the person as what they’ve done for others.
