Narlene Korta Obituary

Korta, Narlene M. (nee McDaniel)

Narlene M. Korta (nee McDaniel), age 88, a resident of Romeoville, IL, formerly of

Chicago and Cicero, IL, passed away on Sunday, January 26, 2025, at UChicago Medicine AdventHealth Bolingbrook. She was born November 8, 1936, in Rosiclare, IL. Beloved wife of the late Donald G. Korta, whom she married August 4, 1962 and who preceded her in death on March 26, 1991, loving mother of Donald G. (Tina) Korta Jr., Ramona (Edward) Salden and David A. Korta, mother-in-law of the late Linda Korta, adored grandmother of Nicholas, Rachel (fiancé, Kyle Arendt), Joshua and Rebecca Korta; Jalisa (Jamie) Fuller, Gianna Angelo and Isabella Angelo; Staci (fiancé, Jeff Wilkie) Wasz, Kevin Wasz and Elizabeth (Jacob) Arthur, cherished great-grandmother of James, Jaylee, Jager and Journee; Aidan, Rory, Alex and Zach; Gabriel and Braden; Eleanor, Edward and Ernest, devoted daughter of the late Oscar and Oleta Pearl McDaniel, dear sister of the late Diana (Nicholas) Garcia, Paulette (the late Bruce) Creager and the late Patricia McPherson, fond aunt of Janet Siudut, great-aunt of Jonathon and Jamison and friend of many.

Narlene was born to parents, Oleta Pearl & Oscar McDaniel on November 8, 1936, in Rosiclare, IL, a small town on the Ohio River, on the border of Illinois. Some of the earliest settlers of the Rosiclare area were outlaws, mainly counterfeiters from

the Sturdivant Gang in the late 1810s-early 1820s. President Andrew Jackson in 1835, once owned a fluorspar mine in Rosiclare and at one time, Rosiclare was the "Fluorspar Capital of the World". The Lead and Fluorspar Mining Company continued to process ore from mines in Hardin County but closed due to foreign competition in 1996. While in Rosiclare, the first of her three siblings, Diana Garcia (nee McDaniel) was born. Narlene had fond childhood memories of being able to run all around town, playing with her siblings and cousins, and always stopping by her aunt, uncle, and Grandparents homes. Rosiclare was a typical small town of the 1930's with pumps for your water, and the ever-needed, outhouse with old catalogs instead of toilet paper. Two of her favorite activities in life were cooking and singing. She often spoke of watching and learning how to cook from her grandmother, and her mother Oleta was a fantastic piano player who loved to play and sing and transferred that love of singing to Narlene. This eventually led to Narlene playing the lead in a church production of Fiddler of the Roof.

Her family also survived two major floods in Rosiclare where the water rose to the ceilings of the first floor and people carted all of their furniture up to the second floor to save it. As a teenager, she got to work at the only theater in town managing the concession stand, and even a stint at being a car hop at the local diner where because she had no knowledge of cars, they had to tell her "the black car in stall 6" rather than "the black 1940 Chevy". Years passed by and in the late 1940's her family moved to Chicago to find more work for her father.

Narlene, when of age, eventually found work at Sears Roebuck & Co., where she eventually met the Love of Her Life, Donald G Korta. They married on August 4, 1962, and Narlene became a stay-at-home mother raising their 3 children, Ramona, Donald Jr., and David. In 1966 they purchased their first house in the Boulevard Manor section of Cicero, IL and became active in their community. At their local church, Our Lady of Charity Parish.

Narlene joined the Tabernacle Society and had multiple stints as its President. She was also a "Room Mother" at the Our Lady of Charity School for over a decade planning activities and trips for her children's classes. She planned and ran the Our Lady of Charity Parish Blood Drives for over 15 years. And was constantly working with the Cub Scout and Boy Scout programs there. In her spare time, she enjoyed reading, old movies, and her garden in the backyard.

On March 26, 1991, her husband Don passed away suddenly. She missed him and wished she were with him for the next 34 years.

She enjoyed spending time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. With 2 of her 3 children living out of state, in 2004 she made a bold move and sold her home in Cicero, and purchased a townhouse in Romeoville, IL. She made dozens of new friends there and enjoyed activities such as water aerobics and Wii bowling leagues. She was even a member of the Red Hatters Club for a few years.

While living there she also took the Romeoville Citizen's Police Academy class and even got to enjoy a ride around with the Romeoville Police.

In her later years she became a big fan of the Hallmark Channel. If you gave her the name of one of their movies, she could tell you the actors and the plot of the film off the top of her head.

A visitation will be held on Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 4:00-8:00 PM at Overman-Jones Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 15219 Joliet Rd. (Corner of Rt. 30 and Rt. 59), Plainfield.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Wednesday, February 5, 10:30 AM at St. Mary Immaculate Catholic Church,15629 Illinois Rte. 59, Plainfield, IL 60544, (815) 436-2651.

Family and friends will meet Wednesday, 1:00 PM at the office in St. Joseph Cemetery, 3100 North Thatcher Avenue, River Grove, IL 60171, (708) 453-0184 for chapel committal services.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Narlene's memory may be made to: Tender Loving Care (TLC) Animal Shelter, 13016 W 151st St., Homer Glen, IL. 60491, (708) 301-1594, https://tlcanimalshelter.org/ and American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 6704, Hagerstown, MD 21741, 1-800-227-2345, https://donate.cancer.org/

For more information, please visit www.overman-jones.com or call (815) 436-9221.

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