North Shore Death Notices: Oct. 11 To Oct. 17

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.

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

Joan Mandel Arenberg, 89, Highland Park
Service Oct. 19

Beatrice Berlin, 85, Glencoe
Service Oct. 19

Melvin B. Siegel, 78, Evanston
Service Oct. 19

Synda Ann Fox, 67, Mount Prospect
Service Oct. 20

Tamara V. Shur née Makurina, 82, Skokie
Service Oct. 22

Lottie Goldberg Weinstein, 100, Chicago

Libby Matlin née Hammer, 91, Skokie

Diane Chodash née Bernsen, 85, Deerfield

Lee Bernstein, 83, Highland Park

Sheila Bonnie Fine, 78, Chicago

Brenda J. Jones, 70, Chicago

Aaron G. Rubin, 52, Skokie

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Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

LaVerne Stellas, 92, Northfield
Service Oct. 20

Marilyn Jean Hielscher née Murphy, 95, Northbrook

Dennis James Kinsella, 80, Glenview

Stephen “Mac” Michael McCarthy, 70, Wilmette

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Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

Robert O. Schabilion, 94, Skokie
Service Oct. 20

Judith E. Yates née Olson, 84, Lincolnwood
Service Oct. 20

Clara L. Fadhel née Susaeta, 90, Skokie
Visitation Oct. 21, service Oct. 22

Richard Sudendorf, 55, Evanston
Service Oct. 22

Marilyn Van Cleave née Lumpp, 91, Skokie
Service Oct. 23

Janet L. McPartlan née Barnes, 58, Chicago
Service Oct. 23

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Evanston Funeral and Cremation, 1726 Central St. in Evanston

Carmen M. Marth, 89, Evanston

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Simkins Funeral Home, 6251 Dempster St. in Morton Grove

Patrick S. Owca, 52, Morton Grove
Service Oct. 30

Frank M. Hutter, 66, Niles

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

Kathleen "Mickie" Cadwell Udell, 75, Glenview
Service Oct. 19

Diana D. Kontos née Thomas, 96, Wilmette
Service Oct. 21

Barbara "Basia" Maria Johnson née Walloni, 75, Glenview

Dolores L. Armstrong, 95, Northbrook

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

Esther N. Odelson née Siegel, 99, Buffalo Grove
Service Oct. 19

Gloria Wolin-Stricker née Levin, 89, Northbrook
Service Oct. 20

Rose Nydick née Burnstein, 99, Chicago

Helen Berger née Kahan, 99, Lincolnwood

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

Lillian “Lin” Grace Reichenbach née Marshall, 92, Deerfield
Service Oct. 20

Laura Catharine Mackie Forrest, 60, Deerfield
Service Oct. 23

Keith Allen Hodel, 64, Evanston
Visitation Nov. 12, service Nov. 13

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

Carol Katherine O’Brien née Tunk, 75, Hainesville
Service Oct. 21

Carl Wilson Thompson, 89, Chicago
Service Oct. 23

Charles Edward Taylor, 85, Highland Park

Gary Leon Schneeberger, 79, Vernon Hills

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

Elizabeth Ann Heim, 44, Lake Forest

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Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave. in Lake Forest

Michael Roberti, 97, Lincolnshire
Service Oct. 20

Joyce Davis Holson, 94, Lake Forest

Catherine M. Mariella née Jakovich, 86, Lake Forest

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Featured Obituary:

Michael S. Falk, a visionary in the financial world and a better-than-average baseball player, died Saturday, Oct. 9 of complications from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Michael went ahead of schedule, but then he always preferred being early to simply on-time.

Michael was both a thoughtful man and a thinking man, and while he was known for his intellectual honesty, it was his innate curiosity and desire to do the right things that he wanted to pass on to others.

He did that throughout a career that played out in three acts, first as a financial planner, then in institutional money management, and finally sharing his expertise in decision-making and strategic planning with investment- and financial-planning firms in his dream job with Focus Consulting Group. He was a sought-after and impactful speaker, and a prodigious writer, authoring many influential pieces for financial journals, as well as two books, "Let's All Learn How to Fish to Sustain Long-Term Economic Growth," and "Get to Work on OUR Future."

His contributions in the field were recognized most recently by achievement awards from the Research Foundation of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Chicago; while Michael graciously accepted the awards, he had come to realize that work was not his greatest achievement.

Michael's personal life also played out like a three-act play; he was born in 1967 in Skokie, Ill., to Karen and Jerry Falk. He graduated from William Fremd High School in Palatine, Ill., in 1985 and from the University of Illinois with a degree in finance four years later. Growing up, baseball was Michael's true passion; he attracted some attention from scouts and ultimately played semi-professionally, only hanging up his mitt in his 30s, but never losing his zest for the game.

His professional life was the next stage for Michael, and he attacked it with a single-minded focus. "People will say I was 'intelligent, challenging and honest,'" Michael said, "but when you hear those words, you don't know the person being described has a heart."

Michael did have a heart, though he only first started finding that in himself in the summer of 2001, when he met Suzanne Huber at a concert at Lincoln Park Zoo. They married, eventually settling in Riverwoods and having a son, Collin; while Michael's life was cut short, he lived long enough to be certain that Collin was and will be his greatest achievement, fulfilling his goal of leaving the world better than he found it.

Around the time Michael met Suzanne, he also "found my confidence and lost my fear." Michael realized that much of his drive and pursuit of knowledge stemmed from always seeing himself as "different" in how he thought and viewed things, raising insecurities that he tried to hide from the outside world, and masking fears of failure and inadequacy.

When he reached the point where he wasn’t scared – where his actions mattered more than how someone might receive them – Michael was free both professionally and personally. To that end, Michael acknowledged that it was mostly in the last 10 years that he created the types of deep connections with others that he should have had his entire life; it was as close to regret as Michael ever came, a personal lesson he expected to learn and grow from without discussion until ALS forced him to share it, as always so that others might learn.

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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

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Last week: North Shore Death Notices: Oct. 4 To Oct. 10