Mary Bohnen Obituary

Mary Kreuscher ("Betty") Bohnen, 95, of Hinsdale, Illinois, passed away July 23 after a recent fall and resulting health complications. Betty, as she was affectionately known by her many friends and adoring family, was born on March 21, 1914 in Chicago. She grew up in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, and attended the University of Chicago Lab School and then Sacred Heart Academy in St. Louis. She graduated college from the University of Chicago in 1935, where she was a Mortar Board member and met her husband of 59 years, the late John J. ("Jack") Bohnen, Sr.

Known for her sharp intellect, plainspoken political views, and remarkable ability to draw close friends and admirers across generations, Betty was an ardent lover of poetry, classic American literature and nature. She wrote and published short stories, worked for Encyclopedia Britannica and was fortunate to have seen many of the beautiful places that inspired her favorite works. She reminded her family very recently that she had lived a beautiful life, having seen almost "every place in every state except Utah."

She loved no place more than her North Woods cabin in Winchester, Wisconsin, which she and Jack always considered their true home. Betty first visited "The Woods" at age two, later attended summer camp there, and fell in love with its rugged beauty and warm people. She actively contributed her time and devotion to many local causes, including the Winchester Public Library, the Manitowish Waters Nature Conservancy and the Minocqua Museum. It's a fitting legacy that her friends from this area became some of her dearest, and that before her passing, she agreed to transfer her cabin and land to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.

Betty was also a member of the Sierra Club, The Morton Arboretum and The Art Institute of Chicago. She is survived by her son, John J. Bohnen, Jr. (Penny), three granddaughters, Courtney Stach (Eric), Stephanie Zelenka (John), and Ashley Sackley (Patrick), and her five loving great grandchildren, Olivia, Henry, Jack, Charles, and Dillon, whom she cherished most of all. A memorial service will be held at Immanuel Hall (302 S. Grant Street in Hinsdale, IL) on Thursday, August 6th at 4 p.m. Donations can be made in Betty's name to either the Winchester Public Library in Winchester, WI (Contact Cela McGinnis. E-mail: [email protected], or, call 715-686-2926) or The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, IL, (www.mortonarb.org/join-and-give.html, or, call 630-719-7976).