Mary Irene Lawhead, age 101, a resident of Warrenville, IL, and formerly a longtime resident of Waukegan, IL, went to be with the Lord peacefully at her home on Monday, February 26, 2024. She was born June 9, 1922, in Des Moines, IA, to Clifford and Mildred Wood.

Mary grew up in Des Moines and graduated from Warren Harding High School. During WWII she worked as a secretary at a munitions plant there, and later she worked as a legal secretary. She and her eventual husband, Wendell Lawhead, grew up in the same neighborhood and both their father's were postmen. They dated after high school and were married on July 1, 1944, in a double wedding with Wendell's sister, Mary, and her husband, Bob Crow. They later moved to Chicago where Wendell attended seminary at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Over the years, Mary was active in each of her local churches. She was a soloist and sang in the choir, she led ladies Bible studies and served on the Prayer, Visitation, and Spiritual Formation Teams. She was an avid reader, gardener, and bird-watcher. If her grandchildren could not find answers to their questions in an encyclopedia, she could reliably provide them!

She is survived by her daughters, Betsy (the late Steve) Barber of LaMirada, CA, and Jean (Daryle) Worley of Warrenville, IL, seven grandchildren, Jessica (Adam) Snell, Laurel (Jim) Miller, Joshua (Anna) Barber, Natalie (Mark) Knight, Nicole (Collin) Welch, Daryle (Maggie) Worley, and Noelle Worley, and fifteen great-grandchildren (soon to be sixteen!). Mary was preceded in death by her husband, Wendell Lawhead, her parents, Clifford Wood and Mildred MacDonald, her brother, David Reid, and her sister, Kaye Peine.

A visitation will be held on Friday, March 1, 2024 from 10:00 until the time of a funeral at 11:00 a.m. at Trinity Christian Center, 2600 Lewis Ave., Zion, IL 60099. Interment will follow at Mt. Olivet Memorial Park, 1436 Kenosha Rd., Zion, IL 60099.

Memorial gifts may be directed to Trinity Christian Center, 2600 Lewis Ave., Zion, IL 60099.

Family and friends may sign a guest book at hultgrenfh.com. For more information, please call Hultgren Funeral Home at 630-668-0027 .