Reilly, Mary C. "Bunny"

1929 - 2016  (87 years)

• Name	Reilly, Mary C. "Bunny"
  Nickname	Bunny
  Birth	17 Feb 1929	Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA
  Gender	Female
  Birth - Civil Record	17 Feb 1929
  Name:Mary Reilly Birth Date:17 Feb 1929 Birth Location:Cook County, IL File Number:6006508 Archive Collection Name:Cook County Genealogy Records (Births) Archive repository location:Chicago, IL Archive repository name:Cook County Clerk
  Education - High School	1947	Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
  Kaukauna High School Class of 1947
  Residence	1985	Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
  Name:Mary C Plutchak Birth Date:17 Feb 1929 Phone Number:766-2863 Address:209 Elm St, Kaukauna, WI, 54130-2141 (1984) [1605 Sullivan Ave, Kaukauna, WI, 54130-3243 (1985)]
  Death	8 Jul 2016	Appleton, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
  Obituary	12 Jul 2016
  APC
  Mary C. Plutchak, age 87, passed away on Friday, July 8, 2016 at Brewster Village in Appleton, Wisconsin after spending the day with her family. Her health had been declining for several years. Mary was a wife, mother, poet, educator, and philosopher who loved a good political conversation. Mary was born on February 17, 1929 to Mary H. and Thomas Reilly on the south side of Chicago, days after the St. Valentine's Day massacre. Named after her mother, Mary was always known by her childhood nickname Bunny. Bunny, her sister Patsy, and their parents moved around the Chicago, Racine, and Milwaukee areas growing up, following her father Tom's work as a movie theater manager for Warner Brothers. Eventually, Tom's work brought him to Kaukauna, to manage the Rialto Theatre on Kaukauna's north side. It was in Kaukauna that Bunny met her future husband Herbert Plutchak in November of 1946 shortly after Herb returned from service in the Navy in WWII. Bunny and Herb married on September 27, 1947 at Holy Cross Church in Kaukauna. She was a 1947 graduate of Kaukauna High School and four-time letter winner in debate and forensics. She was a member of the state qualifying debate and forensics teams in 1946 and 1947. Bunny played the part of Emily Webb in the play "Out Town" her senior year in high school. Together, Bunny and Herb raised five children in Kaukauna. Bunny was a stay-at-home mom and active volunteer at St. Mary's Parish while her children were growing up. When her youngest child entered school Bunny began her career in education as a teacher's aide at Park School in Kaukauna. Bunny found her niche as an educator and went on to earn her Bachelor's Degree in 1977 in secondary education from UW-Green Bay, while raising a family and working full time. She then earned a Master's Degree in Reading in 1981 from UW-Milwaukee and continued her career in Kaukauna - first as a high school English teacher and then as a high school reading specialist. During her tenure in Kaukauna she also served as assistant debate coach for several years. She was active in the Mideast Reading Council and is a past-president of that organization. She was an active member of WSRA (Wisconsin State Reading Association) and the local branch of AAUW (American Association of University Women) and belonged to a number of writing groups and book clubs over the years. She was a member of the Fox Cities Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. In addition to teaching Bunny loved to write and was a published author. Her freelance articles appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Green Sheet in the 1970s. She later published two books - "So Small a Pocket" a collection of poetry in 1991, and "Circled in Red" a collection of poetry and short stories in 1995. She and Herb took up golf when they became "empty nesters" and enjoyed golfing at a variety of golf courses around the state of Wisconsin. After Herb's death in 1994, Bunny traveled and enjoyed many Elder Hostel trips both in the U.S. and abroad, as both a participant and as a teacher. Bunny was proud of her teaching career, but she was even more proud of her family. She and Herb had six children. Bunny is survived by her five children: Linda Plutchak and her daughters, Emily Nolan-Plutchak and Amanda-Nolan Plutchak; Beth Plutchak and Daniel Dexter and their children Melissa (Ed) Narans, Jake Isbell, Wendy Plutchak (Terry King), and Evan Dexter; T. Scott Plutchak and Lynn Fortney and Lynn's daughter, Marian Earnest; Daniel and Laura Plutchak and their sons James and Sam Plutchak; and Carrie and John Forster and their children Jessica (Rusty) Bower and Alex Forster. She is also survived by ten great-grandchildren: Declan and Ryland Nolan-Plutchak, Riley Sessions, Chyanne, Jaylynn, and Micheal Narans, Taden Ellenbolt, Daniel King, Frankie Dexter, and Josie Earnest. Bunny is further survived by her sister Patricia McGrath and other nieces, nephews, and Colburn extended family. Bunny was preceded in death by her beloved husband Herb Plutchak, her infant son Rick Plutchak, her grandson Nick Nolan-Plutchak, and her son-in-law Donald Nolan. Bunny's family would like to thank the staff at Brewster Village (especially those on Heritage 1, Depot) for the loving care they provided for our mom during the last year of her life. You provided much comfort to mom and to us. We would also like to thank her many friends who came to visit her during her stay at Brewster and who supported her through her final years, especially Ed and Yvonne Ebben, Sheldon and Diane Niquette, and Ron Wenninger - all friends dating back to her early years at Park School. Thank you also to Mel Buetow and Mel's daughter, Wendy, for your friendship and companionship to our mom, and for taking her cats when she was no longer able to care for them herself. To anyone we inadvertently missed, our thanks as well. Funeral services for Mary will be at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, July 19, 2016, at FOX VALLEY UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST FELLOWSHIP, 2600 East Philip Lane, Appleton, with Rev. Kathleen Lorenz officiating. Friends may call at the Fargo Funeral Home, 400 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Kaukauna, on Monday, July 18th, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and again directly at the church on Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. until the time of services. Interment will be at Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery in Kaukauna. Memorials will be directed to the AAUW (https://ww2.aauw.org/donate-gift/) or Fox Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. Online condolences may be offered at www.wichmannfargo.com Published in Appleton Post-Crescent from July 12 to July 17, 2016
  Burial	Holy Cross Catholic Cemetery, Kaukauna, Wisconsin, USA
  Person ID	I161627	1FamilyTree
  Last Modified	12 Jul 2016

  
  

  Family	Plutchak, Herbert,   b. 2 Jul 1925   d. 23 Dec 1994, Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA (Age 69 years)
  Marriage	27 Sep 1947	Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA
  Children	1. Plutchak, Linda   2. Plutchak, Beth   3. Plutchak, Scott   4. Plutchak, Daniel   5. Plutchak, Carrie   6. Plutchak, Rick W.,   b. 4 Feb 1957   d. 12 May 1957 (Age 0 years)
  Family ID	F53587	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	12 Jul 2016

  
  

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