Indra Rudzitis, age 79, of Oak Brook Terrace, went to be with the Lord on Tuesday, January 3, 2017.  She was born on November 9, 1937 in Latvia to Vilhelms and Veronika Briedis.

Before fleeing home to escape the Soviet Union on September 24, 1944; Indra was born in Ramulu County, Latvia, during the first snowfall of the season, on a farm called "Vecozoli" (Old Oaks). As the firstborn, Indra was there to welcome two sisters into the world, in 1940 and 1942, shortly before the Soviet troops invaded Latvia. By fall of 1944 the Latvian era of good times and freedom came to an end with the arrival of the communists. Like many families at the time, Indra's parents decided it was time to go, packing up the essentials and leaving their beloved home behind.

After a long harrowing journey from their family farm in Vidzeme, to the harbor town of Danzig, Germany, Indra and her family finally landed a trip to America (courtesy of a sponsor in Mississippi) aboard a ship called "General Omar Bradley" in April of 1949.

After a couple of weeks at sea the family finally disembarked in New Orleans, LA on May 12, 1949. There they were greeted by a welcoming committee handing out balloons and bananas to all the children before boarding a train to Memphis, TN. The final leg of their journey, from Memphis, TN to their sponsor (Mr. Gann's) farm in Senatobia, MS, was traveled by truck. On the farm the children were allowed the freedom of imagination and play as all the "able bodied" adults began to repay their debts by working in the cotton fields. By the end of 1950 the family's debt to Mr. Gann was nearly paid off and the family started making plans for a move up north, to Chicago. In January of 1951 Indra and her family left the cotton fields for good, loading all their belongings into the back of a pickup truck and moving to Illinois, their final destination and the state in which Indra would fall in love, build a life and raise her family.

An avid reader, Indra consumed nearly any book she could get her hands on. Some might say she read anything and everything but as her family can contest, never once did she feel the need to pick up a fashion magazine. Indra was an independent woman who styled herself up until her very last day, taking fashion cues from no one . While we may have laughed at the sweatsuit she wore to a baptism (because it was too nice to wear just around the house), the mismatched earrings she once wore to a family party (which her husband mentioned before she left but as she said "why would I believe him? I thought he was joking."), to the stuffed dog she wore atop her head and past all her old friends while driving through Garezers (because her grandkids thought it was funny), she rocked every look with a level of confidence we should all envy.Needless to say, Indra lived life on her own terms. She will be remembered as a woman who never held back, didn't believe in sugarcoating, and a knack for always telling it like it was (or at least as she saw it). She didn't buy into the "gimmicks" of the world and saw no need to differentiate between soaps. Hand soap, dish soap, body soap, it didn't matter, to her soap was soap. Never one for waste, Indra tried tirelessly to instill in her grandchildren that Ziploc bags and aluminum foil are not single use items and were to be utilized over and over until such a point came that they were no longer able to serve their intended purpose. Much of these views and opinions can be attributed to her tumultuous childhood.

After raising her son and daughter, shaping them into the incredible people they are today, Indra was gifted with five amazing grandchildren. As her grandchildren grew up, becoming adults, she became their trusted ally, the person they could turn to, a vault for all their secrets. While we are devastated by this loss, we know that her love, spirit, words of encouragement, wisdom and comfort will live on in our hearts forever.

She is survived by her husband, Margers, two children, Sig (Marilyn) Rudzitis of Carol Stream and Daina (Ron) Wood of West Chicago, five grandchildren, Jessie Wood, Megan (Michael Soko), Shannon Wood, and Nicole and Steven Rudzitis, three sisters, Vija Reinfelds, Liga Kropp and Inga Briedis, and her beloved dog Bourbie.  She was preceded in death by her parents.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, January 7, at 2:00 p.m. at St Peter's Latvian Lutheran Church, 450 Forest Preserve Dr., Wood Dale, IL 60191.  Friends may visit with the family from 1:00 until 2:00.

Memorials may be directed to the American Diabetes Association, donations.diabetes.org