'Jim and Marge,' Glendale Heights couple married 60 years, die a week apart
James and Margaret Ryan, more casually known as "Jim and Marge," shared married life together for 60 years. The longtime Glendale Heights couple rarely spent time apart. And that proved true right up to the end.
On Feb. 1, Marge died due to complications from recurring cancer. She was 81.
Three days later - the same day as Marge's wake - Jim suffered a stroke and had to be hospitalized. Then in the early morning hours of Feb. 7 - the same day of Marge's funeral mass and burial - Jim died from heart failure at the age of 83.
"We've been saying he died of a broken heart," said son Patrick "Pat" Ryan of Bartlett, who was also speaking on behalf of his elder sister, Catherine "Cathy" Wahby, of Escondido, California.
Losing both parents a week apart has been an emotional one-two punch for Ryan and Wahby. But they also remember the love their parents shared for each other and how they made each other laugh.
Ryan recalls his father cracking jokes with funeral directors last week while making necessary arrangements and buying cemetery plots for him and his wife.
"Our family has a tendency to deal with situations with some humor," said Ryan, chuckling that all his dad's joking "was almost inappropriate since his wife just died."
Jim and Marge (nee Jacobsen) were Chicago natives. But he grew up on the South Side and she grew up on the North Side. As teenagers, they developed a crosstown romance while working together at a Hillman's grocery store.
"My mom eventually became a White Sox convert," Ryan said.
The couple married in 1961 and briefly relocated to New York City when Jim was drafted for military service. When the couple returned to Illinois, they settled in Glendale Heights in 1964 and immediately became dedicated parishioners of St. Matthew Church.
"They were there all the time," Ryan said, adding that his father put his humor to good use in running bingo at St. Matthew Church for 34 years starting around 1970.
"As long as I can remember, he did bingo Monday and Friday nights, and my mom would go with him and count the money and do the books," Ryan said. "The money they raised through bingo, I think, was instrumental in the building of the new church."
Professionally, Jim owned and operated two convenience food marts in Wheaton. After selling them, Jim worked as a customer service representative for the Illinois Lottery.
Marge worked in retail for Sears and enjoyed crochet and knitting as hobbies. Ryan said his mother's last project was to ensure that her infant grandson, Patrick, had a Christmas stocking to match ones she had already made for her other grandchildren Christopher, Kaitlyn, Kelsey and MacKenzie.
A visitation for Jim Ryan is from 3 to 8 p.m. Monday at Salerno's Rosedale Funeral Chapels in Roselle. A funeral mass follows at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Matthew Church.
"They were very faithful and very dedicated to (St. Matthew Church)," Ryan said. "For me growing up, their friendships and their relationships - most of them came through the church. It's just a huge part of our lives."