Abernathy matriarch was volunteer, too

Bonnie J. Abernathy ~ 1923-2007

The matriarch of one of Mundelein's longest-serving businesses, Bonnie J. Abernathy was as much a fixture in town as the store she and her family ran.

Abernathy volunteered at Santa Maria del Popolo Church and its school, was part of the Mundelein MainStreet downtown merchant group, served as a Cub Scout den mother and worked with many other local organizations.

But she was perhaps best known for the Park Street department store that bore her name, an operation her family ran for 59 years.

Abernathy, of Mundelein, died on her birthday Thursday at Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. She was 84.

Born in Chicago, Abernathy graduated from Indiana University in 1946.

She and her late husband, George, founded the eponymous store in 1948 as the Petite Shop. It expanded in the 1950s and became Abernathy's Department store in the 1960s.

It's where countless families bought clothes, shoes, Scouting uniforms and other merchandise.

"My mom used to buy shoes for me at Abernathy's," Mundelein Trustee Ray Semple said. "It was a very good example of a good mom-and-pop shop in a traditional downtown area."

Some of the couple's 10 children -- most of whom had worked at the store through the years -- eventually took over the business. It closed in March, unable to compete with the area's big-box stores and malls.

Bonnie Abernathy also once owned the Corner Health Foods store in Mundelein near the department store.

Even after the department store closed, the business was on Abernathy's mind. She recently appeared before the village board requesting the 121-year-old structure be preserved as a historical landmark.

"She was spunky and upbeat and committed to her ideals to the end, which was wonderful," said Mundelein Trustee Teri Voss, who runs a shop in downtown Mundelein near Abernathy's former site.

Bonnie Abernathy wasn't only interested in business. She traveled the world, participated in anthropology digs and supported natural wildlife conservation efforts.

Voss described Abernathy as an amazing woman, and amazing wife, an amazing mother and an amazing grandmother.

"Amazing is the only word," Voss said. "There just aren't enough adjectives for all the things she did."

A funeral Mass was said Monday for Abernathy. Interment followed at Ascension Cemetery in Libertyville.

In addition to her children, Abernathy's survivors include a brother, a stepsister and 18 grandchildren.

Instead of flowers, memorials can be sent to the Nature Conservancy, 8 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 900, Chicago, IL, 60603.