Miss Kakacek Has Left the Building

For more than 20 years, June Kakacek and I were part of a group of close friends - like extended family - who convened several times a year for parties and holidays. Each guest brought a pot luck contribution but June's was really special ... an old styrofoam container so large and crammed to the top with bottled or canned beverages that she could hardly carry it in. The chilled container would occupy a corner of the dining room and we could help ourselves whenever we wanted and take some home with us too.

June's generosity didn't stop there but vested everything she did. No matter what was happening, her sunny optimism, enthusiasm and appreciation of life was indefatigable ... deep-seated genuine joy combined with bright intellect which bubbled over in everything she said. She wanted to know what we had been doing and if we were planning to travel, and she really cared about what we replied. She always had little gifts for us - for me, a box of cereal imported from Israel which I enjoyed so much that she brought me two more! She was always the last guest to arrive and as we chatted and watched television, we would keep an eye on the door eagerly awaiting her arrival.

June was one of Man's Best Friend's best friends and always brought special treats for Jenny's dog Lady who would have probably sat there at June's feet, looking up at her adoringly if there had been no goodies at all. June devoted a great deal of her life to animals, including her poor sick cat which she had nursed faithfully to its dying day. We all saved aluminum pop-tops from beverage cans for June, who sold them and used the money for the benefit of animals she didn't even know, via gifts to pet-related charities.

June was part of our circle on July 4th and we were all supposed to gather again to celebrate Jennifer's birthday on August 23rd when Jenny phoned me and said that we were going to postpone the party because June had fallen in her bathtub and injured herself. I was sorry to hear this but at that point not overly worried because even though June was in her eighties, she was trim, alert, in good health, conscientiously checking her blood pressure and watching her diet.

As the weeks went by and more postponements rolled in, I began to get an ominous feeling about it all. Then last week, June suffered a stroke apparently caused by a blood clot related to her injuries from the accident. She was found lying unconscious on the floor by her tenant and although she was rushed to the hospital, she died on November 6th.

June wasn't a celebrity in the usual sense and no one is going to Twitter about her passing nor was her death announced on the evening news but I wanted to do this tribute because she used to be a teacher ... Miss Kakacek ... who taught Fifth Grade at Chicago's Eli Whitney Elementary School to more than 30 classes of young children who probably never forgot her. Her former students number in the hundreds and some of them may be a part of Associated Content today. In the old days, after Elvis Presley concerts, someone would walk over to the mike and announce: "Elvis has left the building." Well, in case you were one of June's students, you should know that Miss Kakacek has left the building.

Her wake was November 8th at Sourek Manor Funeral Home in Cicero, IL, with the funeral following on November 9th when June was interred the way she wanted to be, in Woodlawn Cemetery with photographs of dear pets who had preceded her in death. In lieu of flowers, she had asked that people save their money for gifts to the Anti-Cruelty Society, 157 W. Grand Avenue, Chicago, IL 60654. (June also was dedicated to the Animal League Society of Oak Park, IL, and the Lighthouse for the Blind in Chicago.)

God only knows what sort of riotous joy there was at the Rainbow Bridge when June was reunited with her beloved animal friends who awaited her arrival -- or what we, her surviving friends here, will ever do with all those aluminum pop-tops we had been saving for her. One thing I do know is that we will never forget her and that for years to come when we are at our parties, perhaps we will watch the door now and then, subconsciously waiting for Miss Kakacek to arrive.