Mary ("Mae") Ann (Slacanin) Zorich

Mary (Mae) Ann Zorich (nee Slacanin) 98, a long-time resident of Whiting, passed away Saturday, December 29, 2018. Survivors include her four children and their families, three daughters, Geraldine/Jerry (George) Toth (with whom Mary resided since 2013), Kathy (John) Sandrick, Marie (Ray) Baron and one son, Gregory (Aline) Zorich; ten grandchildren, Jillian (Ryan) Molis, Jonathan (Vanessa) Toth, John (Lindsey) Sandrick, Drew (Erin) Baron, Matt (Cathy) Baron, Daniel Sandrick, Adam, Nathan, Lea and Luke Zorich; seven great grandchildren, Madison, Mckenna, Mia and Mason Molis, Declan and Leo Sandrick and Noah Toth; niece, Ann (late Jack) Turich; nephews, Don (Pat) Turich, Jim (Louanne) Slacanin and John (Becky) Zunac; numerous great and great-great nephews and nieces. Mary was preceded in death by her husband of 67 years, Gregory, in January of 2010; her daughter, Georgene, at age 8 in 1951; brother, Steve Slacanin; sisters, Katherine Turich, Helen Stepich and Ann Zunac and her parents, John and Helen (Vlaho) Slacanin.

Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 5, 2019, 9:30am at the Baran Funeral Home, 1235-119th St., Whiting; a Mass of Christian Burial will be offered at 10:00am at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Whiting, with the Rev. Mark R. Peres, C.PP.S., officiating; interment, St. John Cemetery, Hammond; visitation at the funeral home on Friday from 4:00 to 8:00pm. Rev. John E. Kalicky, C.PP.S. will conduct the parish wake service at the funeral home on Friday at 4:30pm. The Knights of Columbus, Pope John XXIII Council 1696 will offer prayers at 7:00pm.

Mary was born at home in Whiting on May 1, 1920. The youngest of five children, Mary was a 1939 graduate of Whiting High School. She and Gregory married in 1942 at SS. Peter and Paul Church in Whiting. In addition to being a devoted mother, Mary worked as an X-Ray Transporter at St. Catherine Hospital in East Chicago from 1971 to 1984 where she made each patients’s trip from their room to X-Ray a more relaxing, interesting, funny and indeed, a most memorable experience. Mary was a 50+ year member of the Croatian Fraternal Union (former Lodge 856 of East Chicago and current Lodge 170 of Merrillville) and she was a very good, avid and fun-providing bowler with the Harborites CFU League. She was also a member of the Croatian Catholic Union (CCU). She thoroughly enjoyed her Croatian heritage, her Croatian music and her years of holiday baking. She was a devoted Chicago Bulls and Chicago Cubs fan and had a terrific memory for details of all that she experienced during her entire life. Mary loved to save things – just about everything – because her belief was “someday I may want to give this to…”. Mary truly lived a long, family-centered and friend-centered life. Nothing meant more to her than “being with my family and hearing from my friends”. In recent years, Mary’s vision, hearing and memory diminished somewhat, but that never kept her from her daily prayers and rosary for those she loved, cherished and remembered. Mary is missed today by many, but she will be remembered forever by all who met her and knew her. The family is most grateful for the special care, concern and love provided to Mary over the years by Dr. Paula Benchik-Abrinko and Dr. Russell Pellar, as well as the recent care provided by personnel of Total Home Health Services and Hospice of the Calumet Area. In lieu of flowers, memorials to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital would be appreciated. 

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