Mary Krstansky
Mary Victoria Krstansky, of Lisle, formerly of Downers Grove and Chicago. Beloved wife of James. Loving mother of Victoria Krstansky & Adrianne (Ted) Hewlett. Devoted grandmother of Ethan Hewlett. Dear sister of Frank (late Helen) & the late Rudy Pizzarello. Fond aunt of many. Funeral Mass 10am Wednesday, October 5, 2016 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Lisle. Interment Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to Tower Chorale or Alzheimer’s Assn. appreciated. Mary was a teacher in Chicago Public Schools for 35 years. She received her Bachelor’s degree from Chicago Teacher’s College, & her Master’s degree from the American Conservatory of Music, also in Chicago. She was an accomplished pianist & singer, a member of Tower Chorale for 24 seasons & Joyful Voices for several years. As a member of Divine Savior Church, Downers Grove, she sang in the church’s choir for many years. Arrangements entrusted to Hallowell & James Funeral Home at 630/964-6500 or www.hjfunerals.com
Ms. Krstansky was my 7th grade teacher (Joseph E Gary). She was a force of nature and stood tough against the kids in school at that time. Excuse me if I don’t refer to her by first name since we never knew any teachers first name outside of Mrs. or Mr. or as I now prefer Ms. This was back in the early 70’s. One day I was late coming back from lunch, I lived around the corner so I always went home for lunch. The playground was empty since it was after 1 o’clock. A car pulls up and two guys in plain clothes ask me to come to their car. I asked why and sparing the language they told me in certain terms they didn’t have to tell me why and they didn’t have to show any identification when I asked for that. So with the street smarts I had at the time I ran! I ran all the way to the front door and by the way there was some colorful language coming from behind me, which included but not limited to something to do with my skull. I turned around as I was opening the door to school and these two gentleman had handcuffs, walkie talkies, side arms and badges. I came to the quick conclusion these are cops! I told them that I go to school here and in handcuffs they escorted me to Ms Krstansky’s Class. Well words cannot express the look she had on her face as these two gentleman had me in handcuffs in her class room. She marched and I mean marched up to them and in no uncertain terms wanted to know the details of my detainment. The CPD gentlemen knew right away this was a legit story and this is a legit p—– off women! Their attitudes changed quickly. They un-cuffed me as she told me to proceed to my desk. Now mind you we had a touch neighborhood but I was by far not close to being one of the tough ones, yet I did for a small window build some street creed with certain classmates. I live in Washington DC and thankful for Facebook I heard about her passing. I wish I could come, but in any event I wanted to share this story. I am sorry for your lost and she was a tough and wonderful women.
Dear, dear Mary was the first person I talked to when I joined the New Horizons Band. She was so cheerful, kind and encouraging I will always remember her fondly.
For the past couple of months, I’ve been constantly thinking of Jim & Mary. I finally did a quick internet search, and much to my dismay, I found this.
My memories of Mary and family are full of times playing with her daughters (when I was a child), BBQ’s at our homes, our families camping together, and dog-sitting for her “Oreo Cookie Reject” as her family sat for our “Bagel”.
Jim, Adrianne, Vicky – Your Wife/Mom was a wonderful woman. I know my Mom will join me in expressing our sadness at your loss when I tell her about this tonight.