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January 25, 2013

Elizabeth Vasilak

Washington Times Herald

WASHINGTON —

JASPER – Elizabeth M. “Betty” Vasilak, 88, formerly of Whiting, passed away Wednesday at The Timbers of Jasper after a long illness.

Born Aug. 21, 1924, in Velka Ida, Czechoslovakia, she was the daughter of Joseph and Barbara (Majlath) Monyok.

Betty was a member of St. Joseph Church and St. Ann’s Society in Jasper, where she moved in 1993 to be near her daughters. Before then, she lived in Whiting, where she was a member of Immaculate Conception Church and the St. Anne Sodality (Prayers Sunday at 4 p.m.). She was a member of the American Legion Allied Post 369 of East Chicago Women’s Auxiliary (Memorial service Sunday at 3 p.m.) and the First Catholic Slovak Ladies Association Branch 452 of Whiting. Prior to her marriage, she had lived in the Hessville neighborhood of Hammond since her arrival in the United States in 1948. She was very proud to have been an American citizen. She spoke three languages fluently – Hungarian, Slovak and English. A homemaker after retiring from Holiday Inn in Hammond, she had also worked at Phil Smidt and Son Restaurant in Whiting and earlier as a nurse at St. Catherine’s Hospital in East Chicago, Ind. She had been a resident at The Timbers of Jasper since December 2008. Her hobbies included oil painting, gardening, baking pastries, canning, crocheting delicate doilies and handkerchiefs, and traveling.  Above all, she loved caring for her family and her home. A devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, she will be sadly missed by all who knew and loved her.

Surviving are two daughters, Susan (Steven) Waggoner of Loogootee and Catherine (Glenn) Weil of Jasper; one sister, Mary Staroscsak of Highland; and two sisters-in-law, Betty Monyok of Hebron and Margaret Vasilak of Whiting. Also surviving are five grandchildren, Brad Weil of Washington, D.C.; Beth Weil and Becca Weil, both of Fishers; Kenneth Waggoner and Michael Waggoner, both of Loogootee; as well as great-grandsons Jaylen Castillo and Alex Jarvis, both of Fishers; and several nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph John Vasilak, whom she married Feb. 3, 1951, in Whiting. He preceded her in death on June 8, 1987. She was also preceded in death by her brother, Joseph Monyok.

Funeral services will be held at 9:30 a.m. Monday at the Baran Funeral Home, 1235 119th St., Whiting. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. at Immaculate Conception Church, Whiting, with the Rev. Stanley J. Dominik, officiating. Elizabeth will be laid to rest next to her husband in Calumet Park Cemetery in Merrillville. 

Visitation will be from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday at the funeral home.

Condolences may be made online at www.baranfh.com. 

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