North Shore Death Notices: April 25 To May 1

The following death notices were added to funeral homes serving the North Shore area in the past week. Those homes have provided obituaries for some of those that have passed away recently. Patch offers condolences to their loved ones, links to their obituaries and notices of upcoming services below.

Chicago Jewish Funerals, 8851 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie and 195 N. Buffalo Grove Road in Buffalo Grove

Lillian Binder née Gluck, 95, Highland Park
May 3

Rhona Harris née Kalnitz, 89, Northbrook
Service May 3

Mayer Smith, 97, Chicago
Service May 4

Richard D. Glickman, 78, Chicago
Service May 10

Jack S. Jacobs, 102, Highland Park

Ralph G. Silver, 94, Northbrook

Barbara "Babs" Tintner, 93, Highland Park

Sheila Muriel Orleans, 90, Deerfield

Edeliya Livshits, 88, Skokie

Hersholt Jack Rosman, 88, Chicago

Joel Schwartz, 84, Deer Park

Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

Erika Hlavacek, 47, Wilmette
Visitation May 3, service May 4

Rose Mary Denniston née McAuliff, 92, Winnetka
Visitation May 5, service May 6

Maureen McGee Kogen, 54, Northbrook
Visitation May 5, service May 6

David Edward Goodrich, 61, Chicago
Service May 14

Helen LaPat Smith, 95, Evanston

Patricia "Tish" N. Sutton née Burke, 93, Chicago

John C. Tower, 90, Glenview

Mary Joanne McCabe née Wehmer, 87, Wheeling

Kai Fong “Bao Di” Lee, 82, Vernon Hills

Joseph Adam Porok, 74, Evanston

George Raymond Pinkowski, 72, Northbrook

Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

Michael A. Wulsch, 76, Skokie
Visitation May 3, service May 4

Alice Valeroso née Munoz, 77, Chicago
Visitation May 5, service May 6

Marie E. "Maria" Bartels, 86, Skokie
Service May 13

Charlotte R. Kalas née Kindt, 94, Skokie
Service May 18

Earl Francis Nicholas, 93, Skokie

Raghavan Varadachary, 78, Northbook

Thompson Funeral and Cremation, 1917 Asbury Ave. in Evanston

Ladell Lane, 89, Evanston

Jamere Maurice Gregory, 33, Evanston

Evanston Funeral and Cremation, 1726 Central St. in Evanston

Patricia Ann Buck, 95, Evanston

Lynne Vierk, 67, Evanston

N. H. Scott & Hanekamp Funeral Home, 1240 Waukegan Road in Glenview

Eugene E. Ruth, 92, Wilmette
Service May 3

Ronald John Butkus, 85, Glenview
Service May 4

Lois E. Giberson née Lathop, 84, Niles
Service May 7

Helen L. Pulver, 94, Wilmette

Ruth Perry Shultz, 87, Northbrook

Geoffrey P. Block, 58, Lake Forest

Weinstein & Piser Funeral Home, 111 Skokie Blvd. in Wilmette

Jack Isaac Samuel, 87, Deerfield
Service May 3

Sybelle Heilbrunn née Yarmo, 99, Glenwood
Service May 4

Eilene Delsohn, 97, Camarillo, California

Jerome "Jerry" E. Tarrson, 94, Buffalo Grove

Donald Matusoff, 92, Deerfield

Arnold Lew Widen, 92, Evanston

Elaine Burg, 89, Santa Barbara, California

Clarence Robert Lawrence, 88, Glenview

Sheila Feuchtwang, 87, San Carlos, California

Charles Locker, 86, Chicago

Oleg Grichevskiy, 84, Chicago

Harold "Hal" Malen, 79, Highland Park

Steven R. Merola, 71, Lincolnwood

Toni Goldsmith, 66, Highland Park

Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Road in Highland Park

Rosemary Gros Carson, 76, Chicago
Service May 8

Wayne Zabin, 84, of Northbrook

Bernard Joseph "Sandy" Browe, 78, Lincolnshire

Seguin & Symonds Funeral Home, 858 Sheridan Road in Highwood and 11 West Belvidere Road in Grayslake

Carmella Delores DeFilippis, 86, Highland Park

Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave. in Lake Forest

Michael "Mike" V. Giangiorgi, 69, Grayslake
Service May 14

Charles William Kraemer, 98, Lake Bluff
Service May 21

Annamae Busse Pfeiler, 91, Lake Forest

Reuland & Turnbough Funeral Home, 1407 N. Western Ave. in Lake Forest

Irene Brigitte Taubmann née Hildebrandt, 90, Lake Bluff

Featured Obituary:

If you are here at random, you may not know Erika Hlavacek, 47. But it’s also likely that you have ended up here because you did know and love her.

You may have met her on April 15,1975 as her beloved parents Anna and Antonio Arquilla and big sister Lucia welcomed her into the world in Chicago.

It could be that you were her neighbor, friend or classmate in Wood Dale and moving on to Fenton High School class of ‘93 where she was homecoming queen.

A lot of you met her when she pursued her dream of becoming a pilot and chose Lewis University. She graduated early, she was always on the move and working hard for her dreams:

Some of you know her from FlightSafety in Vero Beach or Naples Air Center where she flight instructed after college.

It could be that you knew her in 1999 when she joined Chicago Express Airlines as a First Officer. It was here that she met her future husband, Jeff. They would be married in 2003 after she had moved on to her dream job as a pilot at Southwest Airlines and settled in Chicago.

In 2008 the first of her two proudest accomplishments arrived when her daughter Francesca was born. She was followed eighteen months later by her brother Antonio (or AJ to those who new him those first days). Those of you who lived in her neighborhood remember her for her dedication to her children and the local community. She left a lasting impression at the neighborhood school, where some of you remember how she attacked a problem and got things done, meeting some of her very best friends along the way.

If you work with special needs children, you probably met Erika when Antonio was diagnosed with Autism. Always an advocate for her children, she educated herself on how to do therapy with him, find the best care and advocate for him and others with the disorder.

Many will know her from Wilmette, where the family moved in 2014 in search of better special education. Her children loved the town and the community welcomed them with open arms. She quickly became a fixture in the community through her children’s school. Her legacy carries on at McKenzie Elementary through RED (Respect Every Difference) week and spectacular hip-hop dancing in the variety show.

It’s a safe bet that the rest of you know her from her world being turned upside down in 2017 when she was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. After the initial shock, in her typical fashion, she fought for the best treatment and refocussed her efforts on advocating for lung cancer research. She was a board member at ALK Positive inc., on multiple committees for industry groups and eventually she founded her own nonprofit, yEAHbestlife. You may not have realized that you knew her when you saw the whole community wearing her Best Life apparel. It was the fulfillment of a dream when she would see strangers wearing her shirts and she was so proud of the funds that she was able to pass on to support lung cancer research.

Or you could have wondered what all of the recent talk of pickles was all about. Last fall, she became a founding parent and founding board member of Pickles Group, a non-profit that benefits children of parents with cancer through peer support groups. She was so excited watching this organization begin to provide these services to more and more families.

Send obituaries and images to your Patch to be included in future editions: Deerfield, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Lake Bluff-Lake Forest, Niles-Morton Grove, Northbrook, Skokie, Winnetka-Glencoe-Northbrook, Wilmette-Kenilworth

Last week: North Shore Death Notices: April 18 to April 24