Mary Kathleen Rapp

Mary Kathleen Rapp, age 74, longtime resident of Mt. Carroll, passed away Monday, September 4, 2017 at the Mt. Carroll Good Samaritan Society Nursing Facility, with her loving family by her side. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held 10:30 a.m. Monday, September 11, 2017 at SS. John & Catherine Catholic Church, Mt. Carroll, followed by a luncheon. Burial, with a Committal Service, will then take place at St. Wendelin Catholic Cemetery, Shannon. Visitation will be held 3:00 – 7:00 p.m. Sunday, September 10, 2017 at the Law-Jones Funeral Home, Mt. Carroll. Memorials may be given in Mary’s honor for her dear charities.

Mary was born November 17, 1942 in Chicago, the daughter of Leslie and Marie (Connelly) Janco. They moved to Bellwood in 1949, where Mary graduated from St. Simeon Grade School, and was a 1960 graduate of the Nazareth Academy of LaGrange Park. She received a History Degree from Loyola University in 1964. On July 3, 1965, Mary married John Walter Rapp Jr. in Bellwood. They moved to Mt. Carroll in 1965, where they raised three children and celebrated forty-five years of marriage.

Mary “never let grass grow under her feet.” After graduating from college, she was an elementary school teacher in Cicero and in Mt. Carroll. She worked as a substitute Teacher for sixteen years, and also participated in many Church, charitable and community organizations; including SS. John & Catherine Catholic Church, Church Ladies Society, Regional Board of School Trustees, Mt. Carroll School Board, Cooperative Extension, Mt. Carroll Community Foundation, Knights of Holy Sepluchre, the Dorothy Footitt West Carroll HS Scholarship and the Vaughn Hungerford West Carroll HS Scholarship.

She thoroughly enjoyed life with her husband and best friend, “Jack,” their children and their grandchildren. She traveled throughout the United States, Canada and Europe, traced her heritage back to County Clare, Ireland and Central Europe, and delighted everyone with her delicious cooking and baking, her home was always a place for friends and family to gather. She was especially thankful for the friends with whom she shared her time on earth. Mary is survived by her three sons, Mark (Tamara) of Greeley, Colorado, Matthew (Mindy) of German Town Hills, Illinois and Martin (Amy) of Mt. Carroll; and her grandchildren, Sydney, John W. Rapp III, Leslie, Emma, Colton and Hayley; two brothers, Thomas (Diane) Janco of Lemont, Illinois and Michael (Brenda) Janco of Sugar Grove, Illinois, and a sister-in-law, Denise Bryant of Sarasota, Florida. Her parents; two daughters, Julie and Maura; and a sister in-law, Sue Ellen Brayton predeceased her.