Obit: McDonough, Mathilda (1916 - 2013)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: McDonough, Schlinkert, Schoenherr, Donnelly, Werdrick, Brady, Jenkins, Meyer

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co, WI) 1/01/2014

McDonough, Mathilda (19 July 1916 - 25 December 2013)

Mathilda McDonough, 97, died Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013, in Ventura, CA. Mathilda was born July 19, 1916, in Weston Township to Erich Schoenherr and Emma (nee) Schlinkert) Schoenherr. The youngest of nine children, she was raised on a working family dairy farm in rural Wisconsin near the city of Neillsville. She attended school in a one-room schoolhouse near the family homestead. As a young woman, Mathilda left Wisconsin and headed for the big city where she worked as a “Stouffer Girl” at the famed Stouffer’s restaurant in downtown Chicago. While living her big city dream, she met and married Emmett McDonough (he was a bookkeeper and later, a broker at the Chicago Board of Trade). They had nine children, all raised in Chicago. Every year, they vacationed at their small country cabin in Wisconsin, visiting Mathilda’s mother, siblings and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

After raising her children, Mathilda worked for many years at the downtown branch of the Chicago Post Office. Mathilda was a beautiful, fun-loving, vibrant and outgoing woman - affectionately termed “a real pistol” by her friends and family. She had many friends she met at the senior center at St. Colette’s church in Rolling Meadows and while working at the post office. She was devoutly religious, attending services regularly as long as she was physically able to do so. She loved to get together with friends to play pinochle, enjoyed reading a good mystery (still, at the age of 97) and continued to challenge her mind by working puzzles. An avid gardener, she was still puttering around in the garden and caring for her houseplants well into her 90s. She was mentally a sharp woman to the end. With a memory that rivaled those of her own children. Perhaps her greatest accomplishment as a woman was that of caring for and acting as a companion to her disabled son, Michael. She was a mother until the end. Mathilda was also the proud and loving grandmother of 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Mathilda is survived by her children, Robert (Monica) McDonough, James (Nancy) McDonough, Catherine (Walter) Donnelly, Daniel McDonough (Chris Werdrick), Mary Brady, Patricia McDonough, Rita Jenkins, Michael McDonough and Jeannine (Steve) Meyer; many grandchildren and great-grandchildren and many cousins, nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Emmett G. McDonough; her beloved granddaughter, Jenni Jenkins; her parents; and her eight siblings.

Visitation will be from 3 p.m. until 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 2, 2014, at Glueckert Funeral Home Ltd. (four blocks south of Palatine Road), Arlington Heights, IL. After prayers at 9:15 a.m. Friday Jan. 3, 2014, at Glueckert Funeral Home, mourners will proceed to St. Colette’s Catholic Church, 3900 Meadow Dr., Rolling Meadows, IL, for mass at 10 a.m. Interment will be at All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, IL.

And for those who prefer to remember Mathilda with a memorial donation in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Colette’s Catholic Church. Funeral information may be found and condolences expressed at www.GlueckertFH.com.  For additional information, call 847-253-0168.