Bernadine H. Price

Bernadine H. Price (Mlakar) of Crest Hill, Illinois, passed away Friday, October 13th, 2023, at the age of 89, at Lightways Hospice after an illness.

Bernadine was born on October 30, 1933, to Frank and Anna Mlakar, of Joliet, IL.  She graduated from Joliet Central High School in 1951, and continued studies to hone her clerical and bookkeeping skills.  She always said Joliet Central prepared her better than her studies after high school.  Joliet Township High Schools hired her, and she worked there from 1968 until her retirement in 1989.  

She met George Price, the love of her life, and married him on October 24th, 1953.  George and Bernadine loved traveling, playing cards, and spending quality time with family and friends.  Bernadine enjoyed making designer shirts, which were then given away as gifts.  She enjoyed baking cookies, making homemade turtles, and was cooking salt-free long before it was fashionable.  Bernadine was a member of the Joliet Elks and Joliet Moose lodges, and the Jo-Annites of Saint Mary Nativity.  She loved playing poker and going on casino trips.

George passed away in 2008 at the Joliet Community Hospice; when Bernadine entered that hospice, now known as Lightways, George found her there and brought her home to him.  She was also preceded in death by her eldest son: George Price, Jr. in 2020, and another son: Michael Francis in 1959.  Bernadine outlived both of her parents: Frank and Anna, her three brothers: John, Frank (Irma), and James (Donna), and her two sisters: Marion (John) Bubica and Margaret (Alvin) Attaway.

Bernadine is survived by her two daughters: Debbie (Dave) Baumann and Lynn (Karla Vosburg) Price; George and Bernadine had seven grandchildren:  Dennis Price, Douglas Price (Jennifer Reynoso), Mike Mejia (Nicole Patrick), Anna (Keith) Marchant, Agnes (John) Miniuk, David Vosburg, and Jen (Anthony Gutierrez) Vosburg, and daughter-in-law: Wanda Price. She is also survived by numerous great-grandchildren, one great-great grandchild, and several nieces and nephews.

Per Bernadine’s wishes, cremation rites have been accorded.  

Family will receive relatives and friends for a memorial visitation on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at Tezak Funeral Home, 1211 Plainfield Road in Joliet. A celebration of Bernadine’s life will continue on Wednesday, October 25, 2023 with closing prayers beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the funeral home chapel. The funeral will then drive in procession to St. Joseph Catholic Church, 416 Chicago Street in Joliet, for a Mass of Christian Burial beginning at 10:30 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, contributions to a charity of your choosing would be greatly appreciated by the family.