Mary L. Siemsen missed those who were gone

Mary L. (Burke) Siemsen  of Roscoe, IL, formerly of Skokie, went to high school in Rogers Park, on Chicago's North Side. She was a bagger/checker at a National Tea grocery store her senior year. She never had a high school sweetheart - "Parents were strict about dating"- and she never skipped class (Was she a nerd? "Probably," she said.) Math was her favorite subject.

At age 69, Mary died Thursday, August 4, 2022, in Rockford.

Mary was born December 14, 1952, in Evanston, the daughter of the late Edmund J. and Lauretta (Hansen) Burke.

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She became the beloved wife of the late James C. Siemsen; dear mother of Gregory (Debra) Siemsen and the late Laura Kraman (the late Shaun); loving grandmother of Kaleigh Siemsen and Chelsea Kraman; fond sister of Edmund J. Jr. (Jane), Patrick (Mickey), and the late Lauretta M. Burke.

Mary often thought of her family members who were gone. She herself faced advanced stage 3 breast cancer, but ten years after having surgery in 2008, was still a survivor. In 2019, a year after her daughter was killed in a car crash, she told friends, "Not a day goes by without having many thoughts of my only daughter."  She wrote that less than four months before her husband's death.

Mass of Christian Burial is scheduled for Saturday, August 20, 2022, at 12 noon, at St. Peter Church of Ss. Peter & Lambert Catholic Parish, 8100 Niles Center Rd., Skokie.

Interment will be at All Saints Catholic Cemetery, Des Plaines.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society.