Elizabeth C. (Liker) Gregorash

Elizabeth "Betty" (Liker) Gregorash, age 99, passed away on Thursday, December 29, 2022, at Silver Cross Hospital, New Lenox, Illinois, with her family at her side.

She was born on October 26, 1923, in Lockport Township, Illinois, the fourth child of  Anton and Frances (nee Kordis) Liker and was a lifetime Crest Hill resident.

Betty had many jobs throughout her life.  After she graduated Chaney Grade School, she worked for the owners of the Joliet Singer Sewing machine/tailor shop, caring for their children.  Working at the old St. Joseph Hospital in Joliet, Illinois, she would laughingly reflect how she would sit on the window sills washing the windows on the upper stories, clean the floors, and help feed the infants.  Working at Kline Cleaners in Joliet, Betty told her family how they had to clean the uniforms for the soldiers who stopped in Joliet on their way to war, and at the radio shop in Joliet, checking the radio tubes to be sure they worked prior to shipping.  During World War II, she worked at GAF (formerly the Ruberoid Company) wrapping roles of tar paper.  When the war ended, she quit working at the Ruberoid Company, saying the soldiers who returned from war needed to work to support their families.

On September 6, 1947, at St. Mary Nativity Catholic Church, Joliet, Illinois, Betty married the love of her life, Frank J. Gregorash.   After her marriage to Frank, Betty embraced her life as a homemaker, devoting years caring for her husband and raising their four children.  After their children were grown, Betty went back to school, receiving her high school GED.  She was so proud of her accomplishment! Following graduation, she worked for a short time at Lewis University.  Upon the death of their daughter, Gloria Jean (Jeanne),  Betty and Frank obtained custody of her three small children, raising them as their own.

Betty was a lifelong parishioner of St. Anne Catholic Church in Crest Hill.  She was also a member of KSKJ St. Joseph #6, Western Slovanic Lodge #33, Senior Citizens Association, and St. Anne Catholic Church CCW.

She enjoyed roller skating, fishing, sewing, reading, and doing puzzles.  She loved to bake – sharing the recipes with her children that her mother had passed down to her.  An avid Chicago Bears and Bulls fan, family knew they were not to call her during game time – she would hang up on you!  She loved the time with her family, enjoying summers at “the cottage along the Fox River” that she and her husband had built.  Her most treasured time was spent  with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.  On holidays with family gathered, Betty and Frank would look around and each would say, “I can't believe we started all of this!”

Preceded in death by her loving husband of 66 years, Frank J. Gregorash  (2014); her parents, Anton and Frances Liker; brothers Anton, John, and George (late Shirley) Liker; sisters Mary (late Antoni) Lopykinski, Frances (late Alex) Munday, Josephine, Ann (late Louis) Ketz, and Rose (late Erwin) Geiss; daughter Gloria Jean (Jeanne) Viano (1982); and grandson-in-law, Eric Palaro (2002).

She is survived by her devoted children: Mary Ann (Kevin) Fischer, Donna (Gerald) Murrie, and Robert (Laura) Gregorash; cherished grandchildren: Michael Fischer, Kathleen Fischer, Jean Marie (Paul) Muggli, Kimberly (Adam) Dykstra, Matthew (fiancee Kelsie Friddle) Fischer,  Michelle (fiance Jason Schultz) Palaro, Christine (Matthew) Arambasich, Mark (Jennifer) Viano, Daniel (Suzanne) Murrie, Deborah (Nicholas) Antos, Frank (Samantha) Gregorash, Anthony (Tiffany) Gregorash, and JoAnna (Robert) Gjeldum; 22 treasured  great grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

The family would like to extend a big Thank You to the staff  at Silver Cross Hospital, to the doctors at Duly Medical and Northeast Nephrology Consultants for the wonderful care and support of our mother.

A celebration of Betty's life will begin on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at Tezak Funeral Home, 1211 Plainfield Rd., Joliet, from 9:00 am to 10:30 am, then driving in procession to St. Anne Catholic Church in Crest Hill for a Mass of Christian Burial to be held at 11:00 am.  Interment to follow at St. Mary Nativity Catholic Cemetery in Crest Hill, Illinois.