Kathleen Louise Grabaski Tackes

OZARK…Kathleen Louise (Grabski) Tackes passed away peacefully on July 5, 2025, after an extended illness, at her home and surrounded by her loving family.

Memorial services will be held in the Chicago area at a later date. Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home of Ozark was in charge of arrangements.

Known to family and friends as Katie or Kay, she was born in Chicago on November 13, 1934. Katie attended and graduated from West Pullman Elementary School and Fenger High School, where she met her lifelong best friend, Barbara Zagotta. Some of her fondest early memories centered around ice skating, roller skating and the picnics sponsored by the Hungarian Baptist Church in Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood.

Later in life, she moved to Cicero, then Park Forest, in Illinois before moving to Anniston, Alabama to be closer to her daughter Margaret Mary. They eventually settled in Ozark, Alabama.

Katie stayed home to raise her children when they were young and used her talents to bring in extra money through crafts, fashioning wreaths from discarded keypunch cards, angels from expired Reader’s Digest magazines or cloth and gold spray paint. She held a variety of jobs in her life, including keypunch operator at International Harvester, and later Illinois Central, as well as server at Camadeca Catering. Eventually, she shifted into management in the computer departments at Sunbeam and, later, Stone Container in the Chicago area.

Katie was a voracious reader who loved Agatha Christie novels and was a devoted fan of Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn/Spencer Tracy films. She was quick-witted, creative and fierce in her devotion to family. Katie had an unshakable belief that all children should be loved and cherished, a conviction she passed on to her children.

Later in life, Katie spent a portion of her pension to help support a variety of charities that included St. Jude’s and Salvation Army. She was unashamed of her love of candy and sweets, especially the oatmeal raisin cookies she baked once the weather turned cold.

A lifelong learner, Katie took up driving and skiing in her late 40s. She impressed everyone when, at age 85, her love of crafts was reignited. She expanded her talents to design and, with her youngest daughter’s help, create seasonal wreaths that featured a variety of nuts, plastic fruits and other festive items. She also learned to weave and made scarves, table runners and mosaic afghans for friends and everyone in her family.

Katie is survived by her sister, Sandra (Grabski) Leschine of Friday Harbor, WA, and her four children, Margaret Mary Tackes Fiorella (Theodore Jeffrey) of Ozark, AL; William Edward Tackes (Beverly Domaleczny) of La Grange, IL; George Alexander Tackes (Carolyn Martens) of Oak Lawn, IL; and Kathy Lynn Dean (Mark) of Peachtree City, GA. She is also survived by four grandchildren: Caleb Atticus Tackes (Ashley); Jillian Margaret Tackes; Anthony Francis Vogeltanz (Angelique Gibson); and Teresa Elizabeth (Vogeltanz) Randolph (Eric); as well as by three great-grandchildren: Jace Christian Vogeltanz-Randolph, Addison Randolph and Conner Randolph. Other family members who celebrate her life include her niece and goddaughter, Kimberly Dawn (Tackes) Mooney (Ronn) and nieces Karen (Hartwig) Harris (David), Linda (Hartwig) Pachowicz (Scott), Ellen (Hartwig) Turner, Gail Leschine-Seitz, Sharon Spoeri, and Sally Spoeri.

She was preceded in death by her loving husband, George Joseph Tackes (1929-1981), father Adolf Olson, mother Wilda Grabski (Baughman), stepfather Al Grabski, mother-in-law Margaret Tackes, sisters Beverly Hartwig and Sonia Spoeri, grandson Alexander Tackes, nephew Charlie Leschine and niece Susan Spoeri.

Katie’s 90 years of life were filled with love and strong convictions. She continues to be an inspiration to all who knew her.