Louise A. Hinkelman

Louise A. Hinkelman, 82 of Ottawa passed away Sunday (November 19th) after battling cancer for 2 ½ years at her home with her family by her side.

Visitation will be held Tuesday from 4 – 7 PM at the Grand Ridge Funeral Home with the rosary recited at 3:45PM.  Mass of Christian Burial will be held Wednesday at 10:30 AM at the St. Mary’s of Fields Catholic Church, Grand Ridge.  Burial will be in the Grand Ridge Cemetery.

Serving as pallbearers will be her grandson Bryce Hinkelman, John Walter, Gale Demoss, John Heth, Frank Diss and Marty Ruhland.

Louise was born on September 29, 1935 in Streator to George and Mary (Urdzik) Yusko.  She is survived by her husband of 61 yrs, Leon.

Also surviving are her 3 children Debbie Hinkelman of Little Rock, AR, Cindy (Jim) Griffith of Colleyville, TX and Brady (Lisa) Hinkelman of Wallace Township, Ottawa, 2 grandchildren Ashlee and Bryce Hinkelman and a brother Jim (Bev) Yusko of Streator.

She is preceded in death by her parents, 7 brothers, Edward, Albert, Stephen, Lawrence, Raymond, Thomas and George in infancy and sisters Margaret Kurtz and Mary Lou Yusko.

Louise attended St. Stephen’s Grade School and graduated from Streator High School in 1953.  She was a devote catholic and a member of the St. Mary’s of the Fields Church, Grand Ridge.  Louise retired in 2000 from Walter Seed and Fertilizer Co in Grand Ridge after working there for 22 yrs.  She loved to do puzzles and a trip occasionally to a casino.  Trips to Las Vegas and Laughlin with friends over the years were her favorite memories.

The family would like to thank the wonderful and dedicated people that she met and cared for her from Fox River Cancer Center and OSF in Ottawa.  A very special thank you to her niece Linda Yusko and sister-in-law Carol Lehmkuhl who cared for her when she had radiation at St. John’s Hospital in Springfield.  Louise’s children, grandchildren, daughter-in-law and son-in-law were the light of her life.

Memorials may be made in her name to either to the Grand Ridge Fire Department or St. Mary’s of the Fields Church or to the family.