Virginia J. Kotynski

Virginia J. (Ginny) Kotynski, 94, the mother of nine and a deeply committed Christian, died Feb. 10 of natural causes in a North Aurora, IL nursing home.  She had been suffering from memory loss.

Visitation will be at 4-8 p.m., Friday, Feb. 28, at Smits, DeYoung-Vroegh Chapel, 649 E 162nd St, South Holland, IL, and 9-10 a.m., Saturday, Feb. 29 at Spirit of God Church, 16350 State St, South Holland, with the funeral following at the church 10 a.m., and burial at Memory Lane Cemetery in Schererville, IN.

She was born Virginia Peifer on Jan. 1, 1926 in Chicago, IL, to Marie Peifer and raised as the youngest of nine children in Hammond, IN by maternal grandparents Joseph and Sophie Peifer.  She was a graduate of Catholic Central High School (Bishop Noll) in 1944 and after graduation worked at Walgreen’s in downtown Hammond, where she met her future husband Edward S. Kotynski.  They married June 7, 1947 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Hammond.

The marriage, which lasted 50 years until Edward’s death in 1997, produced 9 children, 27 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren. All of Ginny’s children were born by Caesarian section.  A life-long story was how her grandfather, Joseph Peifer, rescued her from that orphanage and lovingly took her in as his own.

The Kotynskis, who had raised their family in the Hessville section of Hammond, moved to South Holland, where they spent their retirement.

Mrs. Kotynski, less than 5 feet tall, had a bubbly and optimistic personality.  She loved children and devoted her life to her family and faith.  Having raised so many children on a limited budget she learned how to stretch a dollar and she delighted in finding thrift store bargains.  She had an opera-quality soprano voice with which she enlivened her household, singing the pop standards and show tunes of the 30s, 40s and 50s.  She had an eye and hand for art and could draw a steady line until her death.

She was very involved in her church and the Tabitha House ministry in South Holland to rehabilitate women with troubled lives.  In 2012 she received the Restoration Ministries’ “Rose Award” for her work with Tabitha House.

Mrs. Kotynski is preceded in death by her husband (1997), son, John (1994), and grandson, Brett Edward Peterson (1980).

Her survivors include sons Thomas (Kathryn), Great Falls, MT; Edward (Janet), North Aurora, IL; Robert (Becki), Valparaiso, IN; Fredric (Debra), Naples, FL; and Daniel, Indianapolis, IN ; and daughters Mari (Bruce) Peterson, St. Joseph, MI; Alice McNary, Orland Park, IL; and Janet (Kevin) Hewitt, Sherwood, OR; a half-sister Maryann Bocock, Cedar Lake, IN and half-brothers Tim Bush, Thornton, CO, and Joe Bush, Foley, AL.  Half-brother, Bill Bush, preceded her in death.

In Memoriam donations suggested to:  Restoration Ministries (restorationministries.net); Wycliffe Bible Translators Ed and Janet Kotynski (Wycliffe.org); or Finish the Mission (ftm2030.org)

The family is profoundly grateful to Sylvia Helser for her friendship with Ginny and loving attention at the end of life.

John 3:16, Psalms 91:14-15, Proverbs 10:7