Theresa H. Boozell

Theresa H. Boozell, 86, passed away at Landings Senior Living, Batavia, IL on Friday, May 20th.

The funeral for Mrs. Boozell will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, May 27, 2022 at Epiphany Catholic Church in Normal, officiated by Fr. Peter O. Okola. The visitation will be held at Carmody Flynn Funeral Home from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, 2022, with prayers at 6:30 p.m. Burial will be at Holy Cross Cemetery in Normal after Mass.

Theresa was born on March 20, 1936 in Ottumwa, IA, the daughter of Slovak immigrants, John and Anna Hutta Hirchak. She was bilingual, having learned English from her two teenage brothers, Joseph and John Hirchak, and often acted as her mother's translator as a young child and teenager. Theresa also prepared her mother to take the US citizenship test.

Theresa grew up on the family farm in Cedar Township, Monroe County, IA. She attended the one-room Bell School, and then Ottumwa Heights Academy, a boarding school run by the Sisters of Humility of Mary, for two years. She was salutatorian of her Lovilia High School graduating class of 1954.

Theresa's first job after high school was with the telephone company in Des Moines. Soon after moving to Des Moines with her friends, she met the love of her life, Don. After a whirlwind romance, they were married at St. Mary Catholic Church in Weller, IA in 1955 by Don's uncle, Fr. Vincent W. Walsh, MM. They were married for 66 years.

The couple raised their five children in Bloomington, IL. Of all the roles Theresa played in her life, wife and mother were what she prized most. She was her children's first teacher, making sure they were ready to enter school. She was a room mother, assistant Girl Scout leader, and Boy Scout Pack Mom, in addition to the everyday duties that kept the household running like clockwork.

Theresa worked outside the home for several years at the IAA Library, then spent 10 years as Administrative Secretary at Central Catholic High School.

Theresa loved to travel. She and Don traveled extensively, including a 1980 trip to Slovakia to visit relatives she had never met, a Panama Canal cruise, Ireland, Switzerland, Curacao, Alaska, Hawaii, and the rest of the U.S.. They wintered in Mesa, Arizona for over 20 years before switching to Panama City Beach, FL for several years thereafter. She also enjoyed needlework, playing bridge and 500, golf, table tennis, and reading. As the daughter of immigrants, Theresa understood the challenges that migrant children faced in school and volunteered teaching Hispanic children to read during her winters in Arizona.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Donald, one infant son, three brothers, and her parents.

Surviving are two daughters, Marcia (Edward) Krivus and Nancy (Keith) Burklow of Batavia, IL, and three sons, Mark (Karen) Boozell of Elmhurst, IL, Gregory (Laurie Hogin) Boozell of Mahomet, IL, and Stephen Boozell of Overland Park, KS; nine grandchildren, Stephanie (David Ruiz) and Michael Krivus, Marcus and Joseph (Olivia Toriumi) Boozell, Emily (Chris) Mueller, Andrew, Alex and Aric Burklow, and Charles Hogin Boozell; and two great-grandchildren, Juliet Burklow and Cecelia Mueller. Also, one brother-in-law, Michael (Anne) Boozell of Wilmington, NC and one sister-in-law, Rosalie Boozell, of Mason City, IA, and many nieces and nephews.

Memorials can be made to Epiphany Catholic School or the charity of the donor's choice.