Dorothy E. Karnstedt, 75, a longtime Elmhurst-area resident, died Tuesday in Lexington Health Care Center, Elmhurst.
Mrs. Karnstedt was born and raised on an Addison dairy farm on Lombard Road, an area that has long since become an industrial park. The family delivered milk to Raby Dairy on 1st Street in Elmhurst and other local dairies for years.
Mrs. Karnstedt fed the animals and performed chores before and after the school day, said her daughter, Diane Frederiksen. She left school in the 8th grade and at age 14 went to work as a domestic in the homes of some of the wealthiest Elmhurst families. At 16, she married and continued to work as a domestic.
While growing up, Mrs. Karnstedt was exposed to her German heritage and its language in her Lutheran church, which conducted services in German, and in her parochial grade school, where she learned to speak the language.
During the war years, she moved into the house on Indiana Street that her father-in-law built in the 1920s. To this day, one side or another of her family has lived there.
Mrs. Karnstedt's family was the center of her life. Her late husband, Alfred, was a landscaper and the grounds superintendent for Wheaton College, and she was the secretary when he managed the nurseries.
Mrs. Karnstedt became a familiar face in Elmhurst through her affiliation with Immanuel Lutheran Church and her job as a clerk at Miracle Cleaners in Elmhurst.
"She worked there faithfully for 13 years and took in the clothes, wrote the orders and managed the desk. She enjoyed her job," said her daughter.
"When she went to festivals in town, she was constantly talking to people. She enjoyed people," Frederiksen said.
Other survivors include a son, Dennis; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday in Pedersen-Ryberg Mortuary, 435 N. York St., Elmhurst. Services will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Immanuel Lutheran Church, 142 E. 3rd St., Elmhurst
Dorothy E. Karnstedt, 75, a longtime Elmhurst-area resident, died Tuesday in Lexington Health Care Center, Elmhurst.
Mrs. Karnstedt was born and raised on an Addison dairy farm on Lombard Road, an area that has long since become an industrial park. The family delivered milk to Raby Dairy on 1st Street in Elmhurst and other local dairies for years.
Mrs. Karnstedt fed the animals and performed chores before and after the school day, said her daughter, Diane Frederiksen. She left school in the 8th grade and at age 14 went to work as a domestic in the homes of some of the wealthiest Elmhurst families. At 16, she married and continued to work as a domestic.
While growing up, Mrs. Karnstedt was exposed to her German heritage and its language in her Lutheran church, which conducted services in German, and in her parochial grade school, where she learned to speak the language.
During the war years, she moved into the house on Indiana Street that her father-in-law built in the 1920s. To this day, one side or another of her family has lived there.
Mrs. Karnstedt's family was the center of her life. Her late husband, Alfred, was a landscaper and the grounds superintendent for Wheaton College, and she was the secretary when he managed the nurseries.
Mrs. Karnstedt became a familiar face in Elmhurst through her affiliation with Immanuel Lutheran Church and her job as a clerk at Miracle Cleaners in Elmhurst.
"She worked there faithfully for 13 years and took in the clothes, wrote the orders and managed the desk. She enjoyed her job," said her daughter.
"When she went to festivals in town, she was constantly talking to people. She enjoyed people," Frederiksen said.
Other survivors include a son, Dennis; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Friday in Pedersen-Ryberg Mortuary, 435 N. York St., Elmhurst. Services will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday in Immanuel Lutheran Church, 142 E. 3rd St., Elmhurst
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