North Shore Death Notices: Nov. 13 To Nov. 27

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

Irene Z. Noparstak née Zlotnik, 72, Vernon Hills
Service Nov. 29

Louis "Lou" Genesen, 96, Chicago
Service Dec. 2

Alan D. Shlau, 79, Glenview
Service Dec. 2

Joyce Carol Winer, 75, Chicago
Service Dec. 2

Evelyn M. Abraham née Lopofsky, 97, Wheeling

Susan Fetell née Lerner, 96, Evanston

Florence F. Kemp, 96, Chicago

Marvin David Berns, 95, Chicago

Simon Itskovich, 94, Mount Prospect

Miriam Sara Loterstein, 94, Chicago

Jeanette F. Meyers née Faber, 93, Northbrook

Louise Harris Strum, 92, Skokie

Joan B. Frankel, 91, Chicago

Phyllis B. Weiss, 91, Buffalo Grove

Arnold Inogorodskiy, 87, Chicago

Bernard William Revsine, 86, Chicago

Richard Charles Shapiro, 86, Deerfield

Feliks Miller, 84, Palatine

David Spitz, 84, Kissimmee, Florida

Judy Bederman née Tronstein, 83, Highland Park

Edward H. Lezak, 83, Skokie

Yury Pasmanik, 83, Glenview

Sarita Stokes, 80, Evanston

Leonard “Lenny” Kaplan, 78, Northbrook

Renee Ellen Zisook née Perlish, 68, Skokie

Reuben M. Lewy, 57, Wilmette

Richard Klupt, 37, Chicago

Vladimir Carson, 29, Buffalo Grove

Donnellan Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie

Peggy Reyes, 57, Beach Park
Service Dec. 1

Frank E. Perry, 84, Rosemont
Service Dec. 3

Charlotte Catherine “Chari” Hurley, 88, Chicago
Service Dec. 15

James M. Griffin, 83, Evanston
Service Dec. 27

Russell Meredith Pelton, 84, Wilmette
Visitation Dec. 27, service Dec. 28

Georgia Pierce Bishop, 93, Glenview

Maureen Gorman Clarke, 91, Wilmette

Stephen Grove, 82, Glenview

John "Gil" Gilbert, 80, Glenview

Cleothes Beverly, 62, Northfield

Patrick Carleton Tower, 62, Glenview

Haben Funeral Home, 8057 Niles Center Road in Skokie

Thomas P. Conrardy, 91, Northfield
Visitation Dec. 1, service Dec. 2

Dorothy A. Reith, 96, Chicago
Service Dec. 3

Herbert A. Ross, 62, Wheeling
Service Dec. 3

Inez M. Springer née Morrissey, 93, Skokie

Mithlesh Kumari, 92, Lucknow, India

Karen Lindquist Ellwood, 84, Evanston

Claudia A. Markoya née Thomas, 71, Lincolnshire

Martin Alejandre Morales, 54, Houston

Consuela Jovita Pineiro, 39, Skokie

Thompson Funeral and Cremation, 1917 Asbury Ave. in Evanston

Saul Ronnie Lomax, 72, Evanston

Evanston Funeral and Cremation, 1726 Central St. in Evanston

Jeanne Marie Follman, 73, Wilmette
Service Dec. 1

Constance Heldrich, 88, Sarasota, Florida
Service Dec. 3

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

Donald W. Long, 93, Glenview
Service Nov. 30

Frank L. Beil, 88, Glenview
Service Dec. 1

Edward T. Fredricks, 99, Glenview
Service Dec. 2

Wilbur A. “Bill” Seeberg, 97, Lake Lure, North Carolina

Katharine “Kitty” J. Kelly née Joyce, 94, Northbrook

William "Bill" Embry, 93, Glenview

Katheryn Suzanne Krauss née Konvalinka, 88, Northbrook

David Lee, 85, Northbrook

Karen J. Santucci née Clouse, 69, Deerfield

Simkins Funeral Home, 6251 Dempster St. in Morton Grove

Virginia M. Schmalz née Schmid, 101, Morton Grove

Marie "Penny" Kobeski née Kral, 83, Morton Grove

Dorothy Ann Maybrun née Hulten, 81, of Morton Grove

Barbara B. Bauer, 78, Morton Grove

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

Maia Rakitskaia, 86, Niles
Service Dec. 1

Robert "Bob" Lesak, 79, Orland Park
Service Dec. 1

Beverly "Babs" Rosen née Wilens, 97, Chicago

Herbert A. Loeb, 93, Highland Park

Joan Glickman, 92, Glenview

Hugh Alan “Yogi” Klein, 91, Des Plaines

Charlotte Newfeld, 91, Chicago

Gladys R. Visotsky née Mavric, 91, Evanston

Norma K. Buckman née Goldman, 88, Northbrook

Lazar Kroshinsky, 86, Glenview

Bronya Bendkovsky, 85, Northbrook

Tsilya Kotlyar, 84, Buffalo Grove

Diana Lee Rothbart née Fraelick, 79, Northbrook

Nadine S. Hodes née Astor, 77, Buffalo Grove

Joseph Volerman, 74, Buffalo Grove

Norman Fred Siegel, 65, Chicago

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

Mary Ida Sandonato, 87, of Northbrook
Visitation Nov. 29, service Nov. 30

Gregory Allen Heiser, 61, Lake Forest
Service Dec. 10

Luella L. Batchelor née Keys, 95, Deerfield

Gladys Louise Grant, 91, Highwood

Thomas Signorile, 18, Highland Park

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

Javier Gutierrez Diaz, 65, North Chicago
Service Nov. 29

Michael John Higgins, 46, Lincolnshire
Visitation Dec. 2, service Dec. 3

Leonora Clothilde "Lennie" Cervac née Parenti, 91, Highwood

Carol Sue Hawk, 80, Highland Park

Darryl Wilkerson, 68, Chicago

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

Birdie Virginia Bertsos, 87, Lake Forest
Service Nov. 30

Bruce Chandler, 94, Lake Forest

Ellen Stirling, 74, Lake Forest

Featured Obituary:

Russell M. Pelton Jr., an attorney, author of legal mysteries, and zoning board chairman in Wilmette, Illinois, who was deeply involved in North Shore civic life, died on Sunday at the age of 84 at Evanston Hospital. The cause was cerebral hemorrhage.

Pelton was known for his Humphrey Bogart-style fedora, quick wit, and frequent dinners at Sophia’s Steak in downtown Wilmette near his condo at 724 12th St. He published three novels about his long and colorful career as a litigator: The Dance of the Sharks, in 2014; The Sting of the Blue Scorpion, in 2015; and Enemy in the Shadows, in 2018.

Pelton also served on the School District 39 Board of Education from 1972-1980 and ran for Wilmette Village President in 1980, losing to Vernon Squires. After that, Pelton served on the Wilmette Zoning Board of Appeals for several years, becoming chairman in 1990.

He was a husband of 59 years to his hometown sweetheart, Patty Jane Pelton, who died in 2021. They had six children (the first two died as babies) and eight grandchildren.

During good times and bad during his life, Russ Pelton – a cancer survivor -- combined a tenacious love of life with endless generosity and compassion, a brilliant mind, an impish sense of humor, a love of history, and passion for the finest food and wine.

In a legal career of more than a half a century, Pelton defended doctors and medical associations against numerous lawsuits, winning a series of major cases for clients that included the American Association of Neurological Surgeons.

Russ Pelton was such a die-hard Cubs fan that he baptized his newborn grandchildren as Cubs fans, even those in the rival territories of the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles. At their baptism, he popped tiny Cubs caps on their heads and crossed the air above them, blessing them, “In the name of Saints Tinker, and Everts, and Chance” (infielders of the 1910 Cubs.)

When the Cubs finally won the World Series in 2016 after a drought of more than a century, he watched the game in his season ticket-holder seats above third base at Wrigley Field and checked the last item off his bucket list.

Russell Meredith Pelton Jr. was born on May 14, 1938, in Chicago, Illinois, the first of two children (followed by his sister, Marcia) of Russell Meredith Pelton, a salesman, and Mildred “Dolly” (Baumrucker) Pelton, a teacher and artist. After moving around Michigan, Indiana, and Illinois, the family settled in Maywood, Illinois, for a few years before moving to Riverside where Russ started Junior High School and met lifelong friend Peter Mills.

Much later in life, Pelton and Mills – both gourmands who loved the finest wines and foods – worked together to help Mills open a well-regarded restaurant, Chef’s Station, at 915 Davis Street in Evanston.

When he was growing up, Russ Jr. loved Boy Scouts, touring Europe on bicycle with his Scout troop. At Riverside Brookfield High School, he excelled at debate, ran cross country, and in the summers worked as a lifeguard near his family’s summer home in New Buffalo, Michigan.

After graduating from Riverside Brookfield High School in 1956, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in history from DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, in 1960. To help pay for his education at DePauw, Russ worked at the school radio station and joined the Air Force Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). During his sophomore year at DePauw, he started dating his future wife, Patty Jane Rader, a friend of a best friend from Riverside, Illinois. They married in 1961.

Upon graduation from DePauw, Russ was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force and received a deferment to attend law school. He received an LSAT law scholarship to attend the University of Chicago Law School.

After receiving his law degree, from 1963 to 1966, Pelton served as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, working as a JAG (Judge Advocate General) attorney at air bases in Michigan and Wisconsin.

It was working at the Wurtsmith Air Force Base, in Oscoda, in northeastern Michigan, that Pelton took on a case that was so emotionally devastating to him that it later inspired his novel, The Sting of the Blue Scorpion. Pelton successfully defended a young airman accused of assaulting and murdering a local woman, only to find out later that his client went on to kill again.

In the early days of the Vietnam War, Pelton wrote wills for scores of young airmen being shipped off to serve in the war. He had to activate many of those wills shortly after when the men were quickly shot down in unarmored helicopters.

After leaving the Air Force, Pelton joined the Chicago law-firm of Peterson, Ross, Schloerb & Seidel from 1966 to 1990, rising to the position of partner. At the firm, he represented the Delta Dental Plan of Illinois in a lawsuit against a mafia-influenced dental school and insurance racket, which inspired another of his novels, Enemy in the Shadows. During the case, mafia thugs threatened to kidnap his daughter. Pelton was not intimidated and exposed the scam.

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: Nov. 7 To Nov. 13