Lucja Maria Jezowski

Lucja “Lucy” Maria Jezowski, nee Strojna, 82, recently of Northfield, Illinois, passed away peacefully at home on August 4, 2024. She was the second of four children born to Stefania (nee Bibro) and Jozef Strojny in Mikoɫajowice, a small hamlet outside of the City of Tarnow in southern Poland. Lucy is preceded in death by her husband, Michael, her parents, and brother (Augustyn). Her younger sisters, Maria and Wiesɫawa, reside in Poland.

Lucy began her unexpected adventure upon meeting Michael in the same hamlet in 1958, marrying on October 1, 1960, and emigrating to the United States on New Year’s Eve in 1962. With only a suitcase in hand and some U.S. dollars, Lucy and Michael started their new life in the Humboldt Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. 

Michael perfected his skills as a machinist and Lucy mastered the English language by befriending neighbors, her girls’ schoolteachers and classmates, and never missing an episode of General Hospital. She networked her way into a work-from-home piecework job, and insisted on learning to drive the family car to explore the metropolis she called home. 

Lucy vetted shops and owners who took pride in the quality of their live chickens, fresh milk, produce, butchered meat, breads and pastries, and homemade deli items. She made the local newspaper while standing at the counter of her favorite Polish deli! Lucy’s passion for cooking and baking from scratch took her to many nooks and crannies within Chicago. 

Lucy and Michael hosted intimate dinners in their small two-story, walk-up apartment. No one turned down an invitation for a home-cooked meal including freshly made pierogis, kolaczki, and torts. Lucy swapped recipes and tested American, European, and Asian cuisine, and Michael methodically leveled each refrigerator they owned to make sure her infamous thin-striped Jell-O jelled evenly. Dinner guests knew a family-style meal was special when Lucy’s newfound American delicacy was made with Jell-O flavors and colors chosen for the season. 

Sitting next to Lucy at the table was considered the “hot seat” where she doled out dating and marriage advice, replenished your plate, and gave Michael a nod to top off a guest’s glass when they least suspected. Long-time guests didn’t warn rookies and joyfully watched. Lucy knew and believed the quickest way to someone’s heart is through their stomach. 

Everyone loved Lucy. 

She worked hard, kept a spotless home, and sewed matching outfits for her three young daughters. Lucy was the boss lady of boss ladies and home renovation projects hummed. She was a foreman, wielded a sledgehammer during demolition, and kept work teams well fed. 

Lucy and Michael always made time to enjoy their ever-growing circle of friends made up of landlords, neighbors, and work colleagues, and all became a family of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to their young daughters. They played cards late into the night with friends at their dining room table and danced in dancehalls. They taught future sons-in-law to polka on their kitchen floor. Lucy and Michael kept family meals and traditions alive during the holidays. Michael eagerly grated fresh horseradish for Easter and Lucy began cooking and baking weeks ahead to fill their freezers. Wedding guests at their daughters’ and grandchildren’s receptions sought out Lucy’s desserts, all beautifully displayed on the endless sweet table. 

Lucy and Michael grew gardens, made their own smoked sausage, and handpicked fruits and vegetables from Wisconsin’s and Michigan’s orchards and farms. “Once a farmer, always a farmer.” Lucy, reluctantly but lovingly, battered and fried the countless fish Michael caught when they finally moved from the Chicago neighborhood of Sauganash to their forever home on Lake Delavan, Wisconsin. Their retirement years were spent with longtime friends, seasonal neighbors, and grandchildren on the lake, and desperately wanting to yell, “Bingo,” at the community hall. 

Lucy and Michael were married for 57 years before Michael’s passing in 2017. Lucy moved back to the Chicago area to live with her eldest daughter, Barbara, and her husband when her health made it difficult for her to live alone. Lucy’s sweet tooth motivated her to look through her old, handwritten recipes to bake for herself, but most of the time, for those she loved. 

Lucy was the loving and devoted mother of Barbara (Jim) Bychowski, Irene (Paul) Jones, and Teresa (Gregg) Larson. She was the cherished and loving Babcia (grandmother) of Jacqueline (David) Drengenberg, Diane (Bjorn) Boquist, Kristen Russell (Andrew Mirto), Patrick (Rachael) Russell, Jennifer (Kevin) Matthews, Nicole Larson (Daniel Dugo), Cory “CJ” Russell, and Thomas Larson. Lucy adored babies and was blessed with great grandchildren Derek, Aaron, Lillian, Torben and Gavin. She was an aunt and great aunt to many nieces and nephews, and an amazing friend and neighbor to countless others. 

Lucy’s life will be celebrated privately with family and a few close friends. Donations may be made in her memory to the Parkinson’s Foundation www.parkinson.org or an organization of your choosing. 

Arrangements entrusted to Chicagoland Cremation Options in Schiller Park, Illinois.