Adelle Gewartowski

Adelle Gewartowski (nee Sieracki), born January 31, 1924, died peacefully January 23, 2026, her long life a testimony to her strength of character, personal faith, and devotion to immediate and extended family.   

The youngest of three children, Adelle grew up in a tight-knit Polish community, attending Our Lady of Victory Grammar School, watching her brothers, Mitchell and Chester, play baseball, greeting customers at her parents’ grocery store, and boarding at Resurrection High School. Her friends at Resurrection became her sisters, remaining in close contact their entire lives, sharing both joys and sorrows. Adelle’s education continued at DePaul University where she studied classical piano and business, followed by employment at McDonald Douglas where she won recognition for her initiatives in the personnel department and served as part of the female work force supporting American troops in WWII.

Married June 4th, 1944, to Edwin (1995), Adelle took great pride in helping her husband build his dental practice and raising their children, Daniel Edwin (Janis) (Boca Raton, FL) and Kathleen (James) (La Canada Flintridge, CA), in kinship with her siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and parents. When her children were teenagers, Adelle took over management of her mother-in-law’s commercial real estate company. Driving her Mustang around the city of Chicago conferring with colleagues and inspecting property, she stood much taller than 5’ 2” in the middle of a male dominated profession. Neither intimidated nor deterred by sexism in the workplace, Adelle was an inspiration to her daughter, granddaughters, and great-granddaughters alike.  

In midwestern tradition, Adelle loved growing tomatoes in her Oak Park, IL garden and spending summers at the family cottage in Michigan. Once a Floridian, some of her favorite activities included swimming, socializing with her beloved La Fontana neighbors, and watching balcony sunsets. At 70, Adelle became an avid Bridge player and hired a computer coach, committing herself to exercising her brain as well as her body. 

Routine was essential to Adelle. She delighted in her Weight Watchers lifetime membership status, joining in 1970 and participating in monthly weigh-ins until her 90s. She always had a project or paperwork to attend to, lists to compile, and to the delight of everyone in her orbit, sticky notes adhered to cabinets, envelopes, calendars, mirrors, the microwave, and, occasionally, inside the refrigerator. 

Adelle was first GG to her 5 grandchildren: Jennifer, Christopher (Tammy), Kathryn, Matthew (Annie), and Danielle (Steve). Her blessings grew with 11 great-grandchildren: Grace, Joseph, Miabella, Max, Christopher II, Callie, Chase, Owen, Sophia, Joshua, and Olivia Adelle. She traveled across the country and continents to be at christenings, weddings, first communions, graduations, military commissions, and holidays. Adelle remembered every birthday and commemorated Valentine’s Day and Halloween by stashing a ten dollar bill inside a sweet card that arrived a week prior.  No one was forgotten; GG’s priority was ensuring her entire family knew they were loved and supported equally. 

Praying daily for the health and safety of her family, Adelle began her devotions with “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I love you,” and advised her children and grandchildren to do the same. She kept vigil through medical emergencies, emotional hardships, and her grandsons’ tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, unwavering in her belief of the healing and power found in prayer. 

Adelle, mother, grandmother, and friend, will be missed deeply and profoundly by all who loved her. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to either Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) Breakthrough T1D: Type 1 Diabetes or Hospice by the Sea Trustbridge Hospice Care. These organizations were meaningful to Adelle as a benefactor of both. 

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