St. Charles woman remembered for staying upbeat in difficult times

Mary Anne Noren saw her share of tough times.

She grew up in St. Charles in the middle of the Great Depression.

Her first husband's death in 1962 left her with four small kids at home and no job. Health problems plagued her through her adult life, and in 1973 she lost one of her daughters to lupus at age 23.

But even that didn't keep Noren from staying positive.

"She always looked at her hardships with a good attitude," said her sister, Stella Pflederer. "She always had a smile on her face and something happy to say about it."

Noren, 82, died Friday at her Campton Township home after a long illness.

Growing up during the Depression, she and her two sisters at times had to endure days when the family could barely scrape up anything to eat.

Pflederer said the environment during their upbringing helped Noren develop her positive outlook.

"Hardship does a lot for giving a child the ability to face his or her problems," Pflederer said. "She was an amazing person that way. She met all of her problems with joy."

Noren worked part time at the Arcada Theater in St. Charles and served as secretary for Campton Township government officials

Her grandson, Christopher Vermaat, said he enjoyed her playful attitude when he visited for weekends during his childhood.

"She was always willing to be a kid," he said. "She played video games, she was always teaching you to play good hands of poker."

Noren considered it her duty.

"She told me straight out, it was her job to show me that side of life and my other grandmother could show me all the knitting and cooking," he said with a laugh.

Noren married her second husband, Richard, in 1966. They were to celebrate their 42nd anniversary Wednesday.

Cecilia Vermaat said her mother always found the positive in life. When Vermaat's sister Ruth died after six months in the hospital battling lupus, Noren stayed upbeat.

"To find something to smile and laugh about," Vermaat said, is one of the lessons she hopes to take from her mother. "I hope someday I can be as strong a woman as she was."

Noren is survived by her husband, son, two daughters and her sister.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Conley Funeral Home, 116 W. Pierce St., Elburn.

A funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Gall Church, 120 W. Shannon St., Elburn.

Memorial checks to benefit various charities, including Anderson Animal Shelter, can be mailed to P.O. Box 66, Elburn, IL 60119.