Philip Trice III, teacher, claims manager, world traveler
Philip Jefferson Trice III died on Aug. 21, 2009 in Oak Park. Born in New Orleans, he lived there through high school. Mr. Trice was a descendant of a family with a heritage of residing in the New Orleans’ area since the early 1800s, where they relocated following the Revolutionary War. Several ancestors were officers in that war and members of the Trice family, including Mr. Trice, were active members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution chapters of New Orleans.
He excelled in high school debating and won first place in the Louisiana State finals his senior year. A graduate of Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, he received an undergraduate degree as well as advanced work towards a master’s degree, then taught school at the seventh grade level for two years before beginning his career in the insurance industry.
He initially worked at Grey and Company Insurance in New Orleans, handling professional malpractice claims and later moved to Chicago, where he joined the staff of CAN Insurance Company as a professional claims manager. Near the end of his career, he joined the staff of Coregis Insurance Company, a division of General Electric Company, where he worked until his retirement.
Mr. Trice married Evelyn C. Gross, a local attorney in Oak Park in 1989 at Grace Episcopal Church. They had just celebrated their 20th anniversary two days before his death. Phil and Evelyn traveled to over 50 countries during their life together, and New Zealand, Nepal and Russia were of particular interest. During the 1990s, he traveled to Russia several times and assisted Russian artists in the marketing and selling of their artwork to major museums in San Francisco, New Orleans, Mobile and Chicago.
He highly valued his library of books and read an average of three historical and political books a week. Jazz and New Orleans’ music were also an important component of his life.
Philip Jefferson Trice III is survived by his wife, Evelyn C. Gross; his two younger brothers, James P. Trice and John Trice; two brothers-in-law, William P. Gross and Steven C. Gross; his father-in-law, Dr. William C. Gross; his nephews, Kevin and Andy Trice, William (Forrest) Gross, and Hunter M. Gross who resides in the Trice-Gross household and attends Fenwick High School.
A private memorial service will be held in New Orleans at a later date. The family requests that memorials in remembrance of Mr. Trice be made to the Mayo Clinic, care of Barbara Flasch, Department of Development, 2001st St. SW, Rochester, Minn. 55905, (507) 284-5334, for the advancement of research in cardiology. Memorials may also be given to the general scholarship fund for students needing assistance attending Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, La.
Daniel Mark, 25, Lived a full life with challenges
Daniel Alexander D’Amico Mark, 25, formerly of Oak Park, died unexpectedly on Aug. 19, 2009 as a consequence of an epileptic seizure.
Born in New York City on March 15, 1984, he resided with his parents, David Mark and Jean D’Amico, in Oak Park from 1985-2000 and then Maynard, Mass. In the fall of 2008 he moved to a group residence in Burlington, Mass.
Daniel attended public school in Oak Park from 1989-2000. He was one of the first special education students to benefit from an inclusion program with a classroom aide. He also attended religious school at Temple B’nai Abraham Zion and achieved his Bar Mitzvah with Rabbi Gary Gerson. In Maynard, he attended high school, cheered at sports events, and went to the prom in a limo. After completing school, Daniel was at Minute Man Arc five days a week for job placement in the community.
Despite Daniel’s epilepsy, cerebral palsy, and mental challenges, he lived a challenging, accomplished life. He worked at a horse stable and a supermarket. He participated in Special Olympics basketball and softball, bowled and bicycled, swam, fished and rode horses, and enjoyed video games. He took up karate in 2007 and had progressed as far as earning his purple belt. He was also active in community service.
In addition to his parents, Daniel is survived by a sister, Rachel Anne D’Amico Mark, an OPRF graduate; his grandparents, Joseph and Stella Mark and Anne D’Amico; and his uncles, aunts and cousins.
Daniel’s family thanks the towns of Oak Park and Maynard, the public schools in both states, and Minute Man Arc for helping him pursue his life with as much independence and joy as possible.
Margaret Gray, 101, Longtime Oak Park resident
Margaret Gray, 101, formerly of Oak Park, died on June 27, 2009 at Whispering Pines Assisted Living Home in Sturgeon Bay, Wis. Born on Aug. 22, 1907, she attended Holmes School and was a graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in foreign languages from Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., then married Leland Richard (Dick) Gray in Evanston in 1936.
They raised their family in a home on Chicago Avenue in Oak Park where she lived for approximately 65 years. Margaret was active in the Unitarian-Universalist Church in Oak Park from a very young age. She and her husband also owned a cottage in Fish Creek, Wis. since 1951 where they spent many summers. She moved from Oak Park to Sturgeon Bay in 2001 to be closer to her family.
Margaret Gray is survived by her children, Margaret (George) Collier and Bob (Irene) Gray; four grandchildren, Wendy Pardue, Michael (Catherine) Collier, Carla (Alvis) Headen, and Nichole (Mark) Johnsen; and five great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Richard (Dick) Gray; her parents, Christian Frederick Hafner and Addie Emma (Lumbard) Hafner; her three sisters, Marion, Irene, and Eugenia; and her infant brother, Robbie.
A memorial service will be conducted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 5, at Unity Temple, 875 Lake St., Oak Park, followed by interment at 2:30 p.m. at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park.
Cynthia Cronwall, 72, Former River Forest resident
Cynthia Cronwall, 72, formerly of River Forest, died on Dec. 1, 2008 in Orlando, Fla. Born in Chicago in 1937, she grew up in River Forest and graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School in 1955. She attended Florida Southern University in Lakeland, Fla., then worked for Sperry Univac, later Unisys Corporation, in Iowa and Minnesota in the 1970s and ’80s while raising her children.
Cynthia Cronwall is survived by her daughter, Elizabeth Slemmer; and her sons, James Brousek and Benjamin Thaden. She was preceded in death by her parents, Wardell and Helen Cronwall. Inurnment will take place at 2 p.m., Sept. 4, at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Lawn.
S. Lee Murphy, 86, World War II and Korean War vet
S. Lee Murphy, 86, who lived in Oak Park for 52 years, died on July 26, 2009. Born in Benton, he was a World War II Navy vet and spent four years abroad, serving on three separate destroyers in the Pacific. He was also a Korean War vet, serving there for one year. A graduate of the University of Illinois, where he studied engineering and business, he was a loyal employee of Western Electric for 28 years.
Mr. Murphy is survived by his wife of 59 years, Roselen; his three children, Linda (Scott) Friedman, Karen (Thomas) Doherty, and Daniel (Lori) Murphy; and nine grandchildren, Amanda, Abigail and Claire Friedman, Amy, Thomas, Jennie and Bridget Doherty, and Michael and Erika Murphy.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 120 Wall St., 19th floor, New York, N.Y. 10005-4001. Interment was private.
Priscilla Higgins, 85, Local and global volunteer
Priscilla C. Higgins (nee Davies), 85, a resident of Hyde Park in Chicago, formerly of Oak Park, Naperville, Evanston, River Forest, Montello, Wis., and Detroit, died on Aug. 22, 2009 at home.
Born on Nov. 28, 1923 in Wauwatosa, Wis., she was an alumna of Oak Park and River Forest High School, Oberlin College and Naperville’s North Central College. She was known for bringing verve and a positive attitude to local and global activities, including the League of Women Voters, Irving and Belles Lettres literary societies, the Evanston Art Center and Ecumenical Action Team, and the Oak Park Council on International Affairs. She visited her daughters in London, France, and Syria, and equally enjoyed the bucolic life on Bryn Melyn Farm in Wisconsin. She said she “loved all people” and friends and family say she brought delight to many.
Priscilla Higgins was the wife of the late Colin O. Higgins, a longtime Chicago area attorney; mother of Frances (Paul) Kent, MBA; Coleen C. (Paul Taylor) Higgins; J.D., LLM, Esq.; Annie Higgins (Tariq Abdal-Wahid), Ph.D.; and the late Julia Higgins Carskadon, Ph.D.; grandmother of Marcia (Norman) Mellin and Gordon Carskadon, Christine (Michael) Frisch, Larah, Katharine and Coleen Kent, and Colin and Estelle Taylor Higgins; great-grandmother of Eric and Violet Mellin; daughter of the late Rev. Howell D. and Julia Davies; sister of Prof. James (the late Eleanor) Davies, the late Edward (the late Margery) Davies, the late Jeanette (the late George) Sogge, the late Prof. Philip (Ruth) Davies and the late Dr. George (June) Davies; and aunt of many.
Visitation will take place Wednesday, Aug. 26, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, 44 S. Mill St., Naperville. Funeral Services will be held at 1 p.m. in the funeral home, followed by interment: at Naperville Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorials to Oak Park Council on International Affairs/Peace Corps Partnership School-to-School Program, Attn: Dr. Kamala Pillay, 107 Thatcher Ave., River Forest 60305 are appreciated.
W. Gregory Drevs, 59, Former IBM employee
W. Gregory Drevs, 59, of River Forest, died at home on Aug. 23, 2009. Born on Feb. 13, 1950 in Chicago to Walter and Rosemary Drevs, he was a graduate of St. Giles Elementary and Fenwick High School in Oak Park and received a degree in Business and Marketing from St. Norbert’s in DePere, Wis. He was most recently employed with IBM.
W. Gregory Drevs is survived by his wife, Kimberly Anderson-Drevs; his daughters, Abigail and Jessica, of Forest Park; his son, Peter, of River Forest; his brother, Robert (Marge) Drevs; and his sister, Carol (John) Kovac. He was the uncle of many.
Visitation will be held on Wednesday, Aug. 26 from 2 to 8 p.m. at Drechsler, Brown & Williams Funeral Home, 203 S. Marion St., Oak Park. Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m., Aug. 27 at Old St. Patrick’s Church, 700 W. Adams, Chicago (please meet at the church), followed by interment at Queen of Heaven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Misericordia or the PACTT Foundation are appreciated.
Karen Solberg, 62
Karen Ann Solberg, 62, of Cicero, formerly of Oak Park, Berwyn and Chicago, died on Aug. 21, 2009 at MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn. She is survived by her daughter, Joanna Solberg (Larry); her granddaughters, Jessica, Melanie, and Asia; her brothers and sisters, Donna Vanselaw, Charlene Sier, and George, Gary and Glenn Solberg. Cremation arrangements were handled by Kopicki’s Heritage Funeral Home of Berwyn.
Edward Guinan, 83, Master of Irish song and story
Edward Guinan, 83, a 40-year resident of Oak Park and formerly of the Austin area, died on Aug. 12, 2009 at Loyola Hospital. He attended Our Lady Help of Christians and St. Philip High School and was retired from the Cook County Clerk’s Office in Maybrook, where he was a 20-year employee. He enjoyed singing Irish songs and storytelling.
Edward Guinan was preceded in death by his wife, Joan. He is survived by his children, Tim (Ellen), Mike, Sheila (Dan) Martinotti, Daniel, Patrick, Mary Beth (Richard) Schumacher, and Carol (Mike Carroll) Guinan.
Funeral Mass was celebrated on Aug. 15 at St. Edmund Church, followed by interment at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
Arrangements were handled by Gamboney and Son Funeral Directors.
