MILDRED BALIKA

Mildred V. Balika, 96, formerly of Aurora IL, died Dec. 28 at Kishwaukee Hospital in DeKalb IL.

She was born in Tampico IL on Sept. 7, 1926, to Guy and Veronica Elmendorf. She graduated as a registered nurse from St. Charles Hospital School of Nursing in Aurora, and later took additional classes in pediatric nursing at the University of Cincinnati. She was employed throughout her nursing career at St. Charles Hospital and later Mercy Center, retiring in the 1980s as head of utilization review.

It was on a blind date set up by an Aurora policeman she’d met working at St. Charles that she met the love of her life, Louis Balika. They were married on April 26, 1952, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Tampico and gave birth to three children: Julie Kay, in 1953, followed by Mary Beth in 1954 and David Louis in 1957.

Nurse and mother describes Mrs. Balika. But it doesn’t define her. She was, in fact, larger than life — no mean feat for a woman who had to stand on her tiptoes to hit 5 feet tall. She always set high goals for all, and the highest ones for herself.

She didn’t just graduate from Tampico High School. She was valedictorian. When a contest was held for the best letter written to Tampico’s most famous son, Ronald Reagan, she of course won and earned an autographed photo from the future president.

It was no wonder that a woman who strived for the heights loved mountains. On their first vacation to the Rockies, her husband handed over the wheel to his bride, waking later to find her pedal to the metal. Her explanation was simple: “I want to get there.”

Obstacles, to her, were mere hills to be conquered. That included a waitress at a diner where she’d stopped with her husband and three little children after a trip to Yellowstone National Park to get hot chocolate for them. When the waitress responded that they had no hot chocolate, only cold chocolate milk, Mrs. Balika responded: “Do you have a stove? Do you have a pan? Then you have hot chocolate.”

Hot chocolate was promptly served.

Later, she traveled in style — first in a VW van camper and later in an RV — sharing her love of national parks with her children and grandchildren.

A severe stroke in 1998 robbed her of most of her ability to speak, but never of her ability to make her wishes known. “No” came through loud and clear. And any frustrations were shrugged away with “Oh phooey!”

She could no longer dance as she once loved to, but still remembered and joined in on favorite songs. She lived up to the lyrics of  “I Ain’t Down Yet” and “My Way.” And, as Nat King Cole sang, she was “Unforgettable.”

Toast her with her favorite happy hour libation — a brandy old-fashioned — and anything sweet, especially Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups whose sales will now diminish without her as a customer.

She is survived by her children and their spouses: Julie and Alan Isberg; Mary Beth and Richard Schneider; David and Shirley Balika; eight grandchildren, John Isberg, Kristin Brennan, Amy Shufflin, Matthew Schneider, Molly Dowdeswell, and Brian, Ben and Brett Balika; 11 great-grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

She was preceded in death by her husband Louis; her parents; and her sisters, Helen Adams and Mary Elmendorf.

Visitation will be Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2022, at St. Gall Catholic Church, 43W885 Hughes Road, Elburn IL, from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., followed by Mass. Interment will be alongside her husband at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood IL.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established to benefit her favorite charities. Checks may be made to the Mildred V. Balika Memorial, in care of P.O. Box 66, Elburn IL 60119. Memorials and tributes may be submitted to the Conley Funeral Home Facebook page or at www.conleycare.com