Woman's sewing skill led her to a new life

If the times had been different, Maria Milana might have become the next Vera Wang, her family reasons.

As it is, her knack for sewing and designing caught the eye of Italian designer Emilio Pucci, who commissioned Mrs. Milana to come to America from her native Sicily in 1956.

"She was scared to death," says her daughter, Paolina Milana, now of Los Angeles. "She was the only one of her sisters to come over, but she really felt that America was the place for opportunity for women."

Mrs. Milana passed away on Monday. The 23-year resident of Algonquin, formerly of Skokie, was 80.

Her children remember the dressmaking business she developed in Skokie - and one-of-a-kind bridal gowns she made - while working out of her home and raising her four children, but her life's adventures began long before that.

Mrs. Milana was the youngest of eight daughters, and 12 children overall, born in Sicily. She was a teenager during occupation of Sicily during World War II, and she vividly remembered all the bombs and wartime destruction.

As it was, her father and brother were taken prisoners of war in Africa, and another brother was a wartime casualty.

By the time Mrs. Milana was 16, both parents had passed away.

Although she had never had formal training, her design work impressed the Italian born Pucci, who in the 1950s changed the fashion industry with his use of bold prints and lightweight fabrics for dresses and casual wear.

Family members surmise that Mrs. Milana worked as a seamstress in one of Pucci's design houses in Chicago, where she also struggled to learn English. Within three years, she met a young Chicago barber, Antonino Milana, and they married in 1959.

Almost immediately, they started a family, and in 1970 they moved to Skokie in search of a bigger home. They found one that also had a spare room on the first floor, which Mrs. Milana converted into her studio.

"I can still remember the gorgeous wedding gowns hanging in her office, and matching flower girl dresses," her daughter says.

Mrs. Milana also made clothes for children and adults, as well as draperies and custom window treatments.

By the mid-1970s, however, a cloud began forming over Mrs. Milana. She endured two brain surgeries, but ultimately was diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic.

"My mother fought for years to conquer her disease during a time when mental illness was barely recognized, let alone understood," her daughter said.

By the mid-1980s, just as Mrs. Milano had become stabilized with medication, her body began to give out. Painful arthritis crippled her fingers, forcing an end to her dressmaking, before the disease traveled to her knees, impeding her mobility.

Most recently, she survived breast cancer before succumbing to a massive stroke.

Her three daughters and son, as well as two granddaughters now are cherishing her sketch books, all embellished with notes in Italian, as well as her story of achievement and overcoming life's obstacles.

"At a time when women weren't encouraged to be entrepreneurs, and from a place where women were told that their place was in the home," her daughter, Paolina adds, "my mother succeeded juggling work and home, and all without help, or recognition."

Besides Paolina, Mrs. Milana is survived by her son, Rosario of Chicago, and daughters Caterina (William) Lynch of Arlington Heights, and Vincenzina Milana of West Chicago, as well as two granddaughters.

Her husband preceded her in death by 14 years, nearly to the day.

Funeral services will take place at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Community Funeral Home, 150 Dundee Ave. in East Dundee.