Obituary: Elsie Sue Rossi

Obituary was published and funeral arrangements were entrusted to the care and direction of the Fred C. Dames Funeral Home and Crematory.

Elsie Sue Rossi

Elsie Sue Rossi, age 96, of Brownsburg, IN, passed away peacefully on Saturday, May 31, 2025.

Elsie Sue was the third of four children born to Nick and Lucy Nardoni in Chicago Heights, IL, on June 16, 1928.

It was George Bernard Shaw who coined the phrase "Youth is wasted on the young." Mr. Shaw obviously didn't know Elsie, as she was one of the most vibrant, fun-loving, and playful 96-year-old people you would ever know. After all, how many people do you know who go zip-lining and snorkeling in Mexico at 90 years old?

She was truly an amazing woman given her life story. Based on her personality, you would never know that she was a young three-year-old child when the great depression began. She would tell you stories of her father's hunting, fishing, and gardening because, for five years, he was unemployed and needed to provide for his family. Elsie worked the onion fields as a child for five cents a day to help the family's financial situation. When she was 11 years old, the family's home burned down from an electrical mishap, and they lived in her uncle's converted garage for some time until they could get back on their feet.

She graduated from Bloom High School in Chicago Heights in 1946. After graduating, she worked at a restaurant in Chicago, commuting by train, where she met her future husband, Arnold.

They married in 1952 and had their firstborn, Raymond, in 1953. Two other boys were born to Elsie and Arnold. In 1957, Joseph was born, and in 1958, Arnold (A.J.) came next. Elsie was a stay-at-home mom raising her three boys, whom she was so proud of. When they were of school age in 1964, she took a full-time job at Montgomery Ward’s paint manufacturing plant. The job was to last only six weeks to help pay for a set of living room curtains, but the second income was too hard to pass up, and six weeks turned into 20 years.

They lived in their small yet quaint home where the three boys shared one bedroom until 1965. Then they moved to Crete, IL, where she resided until after Arnold's passing in 2000. The family finally convinced her in 2003 to move to Shorewood, IL, to be nearer to her children. She remained in Shorewood for another 20 years, making many new friends. She was very active with the Red Hatters Club and the Troy Senior Center while in Shorewood.

Earlier in life, Elsie loved dancing with her husband and playing various card games, including pinochle, as well as playing bocce ball with family and friends. But her biggest passion by far was making pasta and cooking for her family. She taught her three sons and daughters-in-law how to make various kinds of pasta, and her homemade sauce (which takes about four hours to simmer correctly). She would always tell you it starts with a good base. You could never arrive at her home without an appetite because she would always feed you and always find a way to whip up an amazing dish with whatever was in her refrigerator and pantry.

It wasn't until the last couple of years that her macular degeneration and arthritis in the shoulders prevented her from doing many of the things she loved to do. Being as independent and social as she was, she moved to an assisted living facility in Brownsburg, IN, where her youngest son and family had moved. Elsie remained very active and social at the facility. It seems like everyone at the assisted living residence knew "Miss Elsie" and took to her loving personality like a warm hearth. She was dancing at the facility as recently as just a few months ago. As active as she was, though, her heart just wouldn't keep up with her, and the Lord saw fit to reunite her with her husband, two sons, parents, siblings, daughter-in-law, and countless other relatives and friends.

We should all be so lucky to have the love she had for life. We should be happy for Elsie as she will be able to once again dance her days again with Arnold, give her brother-in-law, Alfonso a run for his money in Bocce, have a beer with Ray and AJ, go fishing with her father, or make pasta with her mother and play as many pinochle games as she likes.

She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Arnold P. Rossi; sons, Raymond and A.J. Rossi; daughter-in-law, Terri Rossi; parents, Nick and Lucy Nardoni; sisters, Julie (DiGiulio) and Dora (Clark); brother, Joe (Nardoni); and many aunts, uncles, and in-laws.

Surviving are by her loving son, Joseph (Eileen) Rossi; daughter-in-law, Missy; grandchildren, Amanda (Marshall), Brandon, Carmen, Drake, Kristin (Tracy), Alex (Gotsche), Tony, Brian, Nick, Allie (Jones), Maria, and Lucia (Ozanich); 16 great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandchild; and several nieces and nephews.

Visitation for Elsie Rossi will be held Thursday, June 5, 2025, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Fred C. Dames Funeral Home, 3200 Black at Essington Roads, Joliet, IL. Funeral services will be Friday, June 6, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. from the funeral home to St. Mary's Catholic Church, 303 W. St. Mary's St., Minooka, IL, where Mass will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. Interment will be in Assumption Cemetery, Glenwood, IL.

For more information, please call (815) 741-5500, or visit her Memorial Tribute at www.fredcdames.com.

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