M. Iola Wojtysiak, aka Grammy, foodie, avid traveler, voracious reader, gambler, art collector and music lover passed away at home with Donna and Orvis and her kitties by her side on August 1, 2016.
Iola was born on January 22, 1921 in Eagle Grove, Iowa to Hazel Kenton and Raymond Jeffers. The family moved to Minnesota and she graduated from Barnum High School. It was there she met a handsome school bus driver, Walter A. Wojtysiak and they married in 1940. Together they owned and operated W.A. Wojtysiak Forest Products and W.A. Wojtysiak Excavating from 1944 until retirement in 1980.
After Walt passed in 1990 she began traveling with her lady friends to Canada, the U.S. and many European countries, Australia with grandson Paul, and Norway, Sweden and Denmark with daughter Donna. Her favorite trip was being “Grandma” to the Cook County High School Theater Club on a London excursion.
She was an organic gardener long before it became a fad, growing beautiful flowers and preserving or pickling everything from moose to cucumbers. Iola was named Cook County Citizen of the Year in 2011, being recognized for her many community contributions. In her 90s she raised thousands of dollars for the hot breakfast program at Birch Grove School, sewing hundreds of pairs of potholders, including those naughty ones, wearing out one sewing machine in the process.
She was a member of St. John’s Catholic Church for 74 years, greeting on Sunday mornings and striving to keep those ushers in line.
Walt and Iola adored local Native American art, collecting nearly 150 pieces that Iola gifted to the Grand Portage people in 2015. This made her heart happy, knowing that their lovely collection was back home.
Iola was a fabulous cook, able to entertain lumberjacks or ladies with the greatest of ease. Books were her happy place, along with music of Frank Gillis, Perry Como and Frank Sinatra. She so loved her scratch off tickets and an occasional shot of Crown Royal, for medicinal purposes only.
She was preceded in death by Walt, their son Walter and granddaughter, Kathleen McKeever, as well as her parents and siblings Layton, Ruth, Raymond, Morse, Elaine and Tom.
Iola is survived by children Marion (Bill) McKeever, Joanne (Bob) Lieske, Leonard (Delores) Wojtysiak, Carolyn Holmes and Donna (Orvis) Lunke, many grand and great-grandchildren and one sister Jeff Fletcher.
Iola planned her last party, to be held at St. John’s Catholic Church on August 20, 2016 at 11:00 a.m. Please join us if you can to celebrate a life well lived. Memorials preferred to St. John’s Church for the elevator fund.
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