Rosemary (nee O'Heren) Westfallen

Rosemary Westfallen, 89, of Chicago, stepped into eternity on Sunday, May 24, 2020, at her home on Chicago’s northwest side. She was born May 13, 1931, to William Harry and Beulah (Nowlin) O'Heren in Decatur, IL. Rosemary was a graduate of MacMurray College in Jacksonville, IL and received her master’s degree in dietetics from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Before children, Rosemary’s career took her around the Midwest and Canada in the food service and health care industries. Rosemary’s strong Catholic faith, commitment to the Secular Franciscans and love for God and people touched the lives of everyone she came in contact with: from her children and grandchildren, to the hundreds of students who spent time in the religious education classes she taught and vacation bible school events she led at St Thecla church in Chicago. Her lifetime of always trying to make things a little better for whomever she was with, whether a baby or a senior or anybody in between, is finished now but the legacy lives on as in these lines from a favorite Longfellow poem of hers: 

“Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time”

Rosemary is survived by her loving children Theresa (Joseph) Cwik, Stephen Westfallen (Diana), Vincent (Jennifer) Westfallen, Jennifer (Vince) Crowley, Matthew (Jennifer) Westfallen, Paul (Elizabeth) Westfallen, many adoring grand and great-grand children; former husband Ronald Westfallen; sister Patricia O'Connor; and numerous nieces, nephews and other relatives. She was preceded in death by her son in law Joseph Cwik; grandson Andrew Westfallen; parents; sisters, Helen O'Heren and Joan Carlyle; brothers, Charles O'Heren and John O’Heren. Due to the current Covid pandemic situation, services will be private. A celebration of Rosemary’s life will be held at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials to Catholic Charities, www.catholiccharities.net, are appreciated.

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