North Shore Death Notices: Feb. 19 To Feb. 25

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.

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

Anna Catella, 99, Highland Park
Service Feb. 29

Dennis M. Downes, 72, Chicago
Service March 2

David P. Drenk, 70, Highland Park
Service March 2

William “Bill” Marquardt, 67, Deerfield
Service March 3

Leigh Shiras Bickmore, 60, Deerfield
Service March 4

Adeline M. Olson née Szymankiewicz, 90, Deerfield
Service March 8

Marjorie Nath Ettlinger, 95, Highland Park

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

Javier Guzman Diaz, 56, Chicago
Visitation Feb. 29, service March 1

Rose Ann Simpson, 82, Lake Forest

Wenban Funeral Home, 320 Vine Ave. in Lake Forest

Bonnie Brackin Ford, 89, Lake Barrington

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

Joel H. Saltzman, 65, Barrington Hills
Service Feb. 28

Arthur Coren, 90, Evanston

Audrey M. Hurwitz née Mann, 87, Chicago

Alan Freeman, 81, Chicago

Michael Ferdinand, 76, Skokie

Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

Kimberlee Anita Bucklin, 66, Buffalo Grove
Service Feb. 28

Thomas Michael Graham, 82, Evanston
Service March 2

Raymond "Ray" Wegner, 79, Glenview
Service March 2

George Alapishvili, 73, Libertyville
Service March 5

Davida R. Loutsch, 99, Wilmette

Olga Messinova, 96, Chicago

Michael C. Sillin, 85, Glenview

Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

Rae Lois Rice née Ihrcke, 93, Skokie

Mark J. Berndt, 73, Gurnee

Gregory M. “ Greg” Kwiecinski, 69, Niles

Thompson Funeral & Cremation Services, 1917 Asbury Ave. in Evanston

Horick Vaughan, 76, Des Plaines
Visitation March 1, service March 2

Alberta McKenzie, 92, Evanston
Visitation March 8, service March 9

Venita Warburton, 86, Gurnee
Visitation March 21, service March 22

Marie C. Remy, 79, Chicago

Evanston Funeral and Cremation, 1726 Central St. in Evanston

Louise B. Stranglen, 98, Wilmette

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

Michael Herbert Debs, 87, Glenview
Service Feb. 28

Lea Koplon, 110, Scottsdale, Arizona
Service Feb. 29

Edith J. Weber, 95, Schaumburg

Ellen Miriam Meltzer née Feldblum, 91, Evanston

Miriam Dunn Lyon, 87, Wilmette

Margaret M. Nagel, 87, Evanston

Glenn M. Horwitz, 54, Wilmette

Christian Vega, 29, Skokie

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

Christos Aralis, 91, Northbrook
Service Feb. 28

Barbara Ann Bowne, 81, Northbrook
Service May 18

Joan "Jojo" Viant Lindsay Strom, 93, Winnetka

Featured Obituary:

Christian Vega, age 29, of Skokie, IL, went home to Jesus peacefully on Monday, February 19, 2024. Christian is the beloved first son of Delfino Vega Hernandez and Catalina Vega. Christian is survived by his parents Delfino Vega Hernandez and Catalina Vega. He was a loving older brother to David Vega, Katherine Vega, and Madeline Vega. He was a caring nephew to Beatriz Labra, Ofelia Chavez, Joseluis Aguilar and Celia Aguilar. He was an adoring grandchild to Maria de la Luz Tamayo Santamaria. Loved by his many cousins and aunts around the world.

Christian from a young age knew he was so loved and knew he could achieve anything he set his mind to do. His confidence and charisma helped him reach great heights. Indisputably, nothing was impossible in his eyes. In highschool, he did almost every sport including extracurricular activities that he could possibly fit into his schedule. He joined track, cross country, soccer, gymnastics, swimming, along with theater and choir to mention just a few. Even though he learned to swim in highschool, he still was confident enough to compete in the swimming team.

Senior Airman (Ret) Christian Vega enlisted into the Air Force in 2013 and served as an Air Transport Apprentice “Port Dawg” at JB-Elmendorf-Richardson, AK. In 2015 after experiencing a headache, Christian collapsed on base and was transported to the Providence hospital in Anchorage. Diagnosed with a brain hemorrhage that led to a traumatic brain injury and months of extensive physical and speech therapy, Christian was enrolled into the Air Force Wounded Warrior Program (AFW2). The doctors, therapists, social workers and entire team were a tremendous support. His hope, gratitude and love for life along with his unfailing support from his mother, and family lead him on the road to recovery. Despite setbacks in his recovery, Christian found new purpose after his participation in the Air Force Wounded Warrior Adaptive Sports Program, attending his first CARE event in 2016 at Offutt AFB. In 2018, Christian was medically retired from the Air Force and returned to his hometown of Chicago, IL.

Following his introduction to adaptive sports, Cristian attended the Scott AFB CARE event in 2019 and tried all offered sports, running for the very first time since his brain aneurysm. Air Force staff, coaches and fellow Warriors were uplifted by his positive and indomitable attitude as well as his joyful spirit that was contagious. Christian was eager to share his story of his challenges and perseverance throughout his recovery journey. Christian shared his testimony of recovery and resiliency during the closing for the NC CARE Event, capturing the hearts of all staff, coach and Warriors who attended. He was ultimately awarded the Poet and Spirit awards, recognition for his excellence in teamwork, leadership and service before self. Christian’s favorite sports were Track, Cycling, Swimming, Shooting, Rowing and Sitting Volleyball.

Christian attended the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Air Force Trials where he earned 12 Gold, 2 Silvers and 1 Bronze medal. With dreams to represent the Air Force at the Warrior Games, Christian trained hard and was selected to join represent the Air Force at the 2022 DoD Warrior Games where his indomitable spirit earned him Gold medals in Swimming - 200M Freestyle Relay, Track - 100 & 200 meter dashes, Silver in Cycling Time Trial, and two Bronzes in the Cycling Road race and Swimming 50M Breaststroke. Christian became a Champion of recovery and in his respect sports. He was selected to represent Team USA at the 2023 Invictus Games hosted in Dusseldorf, Germany. Christian became a well known team member and American in an international crowd making friendships across the 23 nations participating. There Christian met the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Harry and Megan and medaled in the Cycling-Criterium.

After his competitions, Christian and Team USA were invited to the White House to meet President Biden and the First Lady.

Obituaries and images may be submitted to your Patch for publication: Deerfield, Evanston, Glenview, Highland Park, Lake Bluff-Lake Forest, Niles-Morton Grove, Northbrook, Skokie, Winnetka-Glencoe-Northfield, Wilmette-Kenilworth

Last week: North Shore Death Notices: Feb. 12 To Feb. 18