Tusek, Pauline "Paulina" Theresa Cirar, 97,  1/12/1928 to 8/20/2025, beloved mother of Vivian (George Pulice) Tusek of Oak Brook and the late Donald (Nancy) Tusek of Downers Grove, loving wife of the late Anton "Tom", cherished grandmother of Allison (Matt) Tusek Zemke of Lockport, IL, & Lauren (Connor) McLaughlin of Hebron, KY, great grandmother to Hadley & Josie McLaughlin and Tyler Zemke, devoted sister to the late Joseph (Judy) Wotchko of Collinsville, IL,  the late Frances (Peter) Snyder of Downers Grove , and the late Richard (Margaret) Wotchko of Livingston, IL, loving aunt to Joann (Bill) Snyder Petty, the late Carol Ann Snyder, Rick and Leonard Wotchko, and dear great-aunt to Scott (Maritza) Petty of Downers Grove, along with numerous cousins and second cousins from the Cirar and Ocepek families.

Pauline was born in Gillespie, Illinois to Frances (Ocepek) and Charles Cirar.  After attending Livingston Community High School she and her sister moved to Chicago where they lived with the Omerzo family finding work as an executive secretary to the president of St Paul Federal Savings and Loan Association of Chicago.  She met and married her beloved husband Anton "Tom" Tusek Jr., on February 23, 1952, a WWII Veteran.  They lived in Berwyn with her in-laws and then bought a home in LaGrange (now Countryside) becoming a stay-at-home housewife for a number of years while raising her children.

Pauline was a perfect devoted mother who created a happy home.  She went back to work at American Nuclear Society in Hinsdale where she met a group of ladies that became her good friends.  Her pride and joy were her children, grandchildren, and now her great grandchildren.  She couldn't post enough pictures of them all around her house or see them enough times, and of course attended all their birthdays, graduation parties and holiday get-togethers.  Family, both immediate and extended, were everything to her. Her sister Frances was her best friend and they spent many days together shopping, visiting back and forth, attending family events and Slovenian Lodge get-togethers, or just talking on the phone. She took pride in taking care of her house and yard and enjoyed gardening, baking and entertaining.

Pauline was known for her hospitality, good nature, warm smile, a heart of gold and her generosity.  She loved buying lots of presents for her family and got great pleasure from seeing her granddaughters and great grandchildren get excited opening gifts.  She had many friends and liked everyone immediately. If you were distantly related to her, you were considered her family.  She kept in touch with everyone as much as she could with phone calls, emails, hand-written cards and letters.  She was a selfless and devoted caregiver to her husband for 10 years while he suffered from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease, until his death in 1992, and many people thought she was a saint and an angel.  In 2017, when she was 89, Pauline experienced the greatest heartbreak a mother can ever know when her son Donald died from a heart attack at the age of 58 and she lived with underlying grief the rest of her life.  He left behind a great legacy of his two beloved daughters and Don's wife Nancy, all of whom Pauline loved dearly.

Pauline has seen a lot of changes, and it was both a curse and a blessing that she outlived just about everybody from her generation, but still overall had a long and happy life that she appreciated every day, which she was not afraid to express.   A very strong-willed, independent woman who lived on her own as a widow for over 30 years until the age of 95 when she moved in with her daughter, Pauline Theresa Tusek peacefully passed away at home. She will be dearly missed and forever loved and remembered by her family and friends.  As she always said, Family is Forever!  We pray for her eternal peace.

Family and friends will be received at the Conboy-Westchester Funeral Home, 10501 W. Cermak Rd., Westchester on Monday, August 25, 2025 from 10:00 a.m. until time of Chapel Service 11:00 a.m. Interment Woodlawn Cemetery. For funeral info 708-F-U-N-E-R-A-L.