Maria "Baba" Jonko

Maria (Zimmer) Jonko, 98, passed away on Monday, May 19, 2025 peacefully, surrounded by the love of her family, in her Mundelein home. She was born April 25, 1927 in the former Yugoslavia (now Serbia). She met her husband Jozef while sheltered with her family in a WWII refugee camp as his Polish Army infantry troop stopped by for some rest and a meal (she worked in the kitchen). They married and lived in Poland for 20 years before she and Jozef with their 3 children reunited with the Zimmer family in the DePaul area of Chicago in 1965. After retirement, she and Jozef moved to Mundelein, IL to be closer to their 3 children and grandchildren where she continued to live for 26 years. Maria worked hard throughout her life without complaint, sometimes holding multiple jobs simultaneously. Prior to the start of WWII, she attended a trade school to become a seamstress. She needed to stop her education when the war started to work where she was needed, as a telephone switchboard operator, in her birth city of Veliki Becherek. In Swidnica, Poland, where she and Jozef settled to raise their family after the war, she worked as a bus conductor. But the job that her family loved the most was at the famous Lutz Bakery in the Lincoln Square area of Chicago. She took great pride in every position she held throughout her life until she retired proudly as a Department Supervisor at Schumacher Electric, Chicago after almost 25 years. Affectionately known to many as Baba or Oma, she was a dedicated mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She had a passion for cooking traditional Polish meals, sewing, gardening, music and dancing. Beyond her work and hobbies, family was central to her life, never missing any celebration, sporting event, or gathering. She was proud of her Eastern European heritage and celebrated and passed it on to her loved ones. She would do anything to put her children and family first. Maria spoke many languages (Polish, Yugoslavian, Hungarian, German, Romanian, English, even a little Korean that she learned during her years at Schumacher) but because Jozef only spoke Polish, the spoken language at home was Polish. She would often say to her grandchildren….Chodź tu, daj mi buziaka They in return would like to say to her …..Dziękujemy Baba/Oma, kochamy cię. Surviving are her daughter, Krystyna (William) Fritz, 7 grandchildren, Timothy (Rachel) Jonko, Michael (Esmeralda) great-grandson Jaxon, Daniel (Casey) Jonko, Natalie (Matt) Harvey, great-grandson Landon and great-granddaughter Hadley, Bryana Fritz, Alysa Fritz and Kayla (Derek) Blidy, her sisters, Getrude (Frank) Kaufmann and Helene (Stuart) Holtz and her sister-in-law, Rosemarie (Michael) Zimmer. She was preceded in death by her parents, Stefan and Maria Zimmer, her husband, Jozef Jonko in 2002, her sons Edward (Wesia) Jonko, Richard Jonko and brother Michael (Rosemarie) Zimmer, and sister Hilda (Helmut) Filian. A visitation will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m, with a gathering for prayer at 6:00 p.m., on Thursday, May 29, 2025 at Burnett-Dane Funeral Home, 120 W. Park Ave. (Rt. 176, one block west of Milwaukee Ave) in Libertyville. The funeral mass will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday at Transfiguration Church, 316 W. Mill Street, Wauconda, IL. Interment will follow at Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville. For info: 847-362-3009 or share a memory at www.burnettdane.com.

Maria "Baba" Jonko

April 25, 1927 - May 19, 2025