Mary Louise (Krolikowski) Grabenstetter

Mary Louise Grabenstetter, 77, of Metamora, IL, passed away at 5:30 am on Sunday, June 8, 2025, at her residence. She was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers.

Mary Louise Grabenstetter (née Krolikowski) burst crying into this world on May 2, 1948, immediately apologized for having caused a fuss, and then went about the business of growing into a fully-functional human.

She grew up in a Polish enclave on the South Side of Chicago – a time and a place about which she cherished memories for the whole of her life. She was the oldest child and only daughter of Eugene and Virginia Krolikowski. Mary Lou and her three brothers (Len, Rich, & Gene) spent their childhood gallivanting around Sherman Park when they weren't fervently obeying the nuns of Visitation Catholic School. When she came of age, she attended Loyola University of Chicago, managing to find gainful employment after graduation despite majoring in English – a language that she already spoke. Mary Lou served some of society's neediest people for a few years as a social worker before getting her teaching certification and discovering her passion for elementary school education – a profession that defined her career for the subsequent decades.

It was during her college years that Mary Lou met the love of her life, Tom Grabenstetter, on a chance encounter. Having never seen a cow before, the city girl accepted an invitation from a classmate at Loyola to travel to her family's dairy farm in Valley City, Ohio during a school break. The classmate turned out to be Tom's sister and Mary Lou's future sister-in-law, as Tom happened to be visiting home on the same weekend. They caught each other's eye over a stack of haybales, started exchanging handwritten letters like a couple of people from an old-timey motion picture, and the rest was history. They were married on August, 17, 1974, subsequently raising two sons, Joe and Andy, and a cadre of dogs and cats in Metamora, Illinois, where the family attended St. Mary's Catholic Church while Mary Lou taught at St. Mary's School. The dogs and cats regrettably remained illiterate, despite her best efforts.

Mary Lou loved reading, travel, and she had a sweet tooth so large that she has doubtlessly manifested a Trefzger's Bakery in heaven. She voraciously consumed every British period book, movie and television show ever created. She loved few things more than complaining about the demise of department stores across the country. And she embarrassedly enjoyed Hallmark Christmas movies more than she would want it known through this obituary. The only thing she loved more than all of these pursuits were her four grandchildren (Ellenore, Georgia, Delilah, and Sterling) by Andy and his wife, Leslie. They brought her more joy than they can ever possibly know.

Mary Lou left us too soon. Her absence from our lives is an incredibly heavy load to bear, but we are left to conclude that there must have been a greater need elsewhere for her loving care and spirit. We are comforted by the fact that the people we love never truly leave us. And Mary Lou, Mom, and Grandma never will.

A Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, June 14, 2025 at St. Mary's Catholic Church with Father David Kipfer officiating. Visitation will be held from 9:00 am until time of mass, also on Saturday at the church. Burial will be in St. Mary's Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to St. Mary's School, 400 West Chatham Street, Metamora, IL 61548. Online condolences at www.masonfuneralhomes.com.

St. Mary's School
400 West Chatham Street, Metamora IL 61548