Judith A. Eisenmann, age 81, passed away quietly in her sleep on December 28, 2020. She had been suffering from dementia for the last several years. Judy was born in 1939 to Helen and Robert Shylin in Illinois. She grew up in Oak Park, Illinois.
Judy was a life-long learner and avid reader. She worked in libraries most of her life starting at the Maze Branch of the Oak Park Public Library when she was just a teenager. When the family lived in Westfield, New Jersey (1969-1984), Judy worked as a librarian at the Westfield Public Library. She was the librarian at McLean School in Potomac, Maryland until 1991 and retired as the librarian for Trinity High School in River Forest in 2005. Judy’s love of books was exemplified in one of her favorite t-shirts which read: “So many books, so little time.”
Given her love of libraries and career as a reference librarian, it is not surprising that Judy became an accomplished genealogist. She enjoyed spending time pouring over census and other records to track the origins of her family. She seemed most happy sharing her latest discoveries of the family roots with her children. Among the more interesting genealogic facts were Uncle and Aunt Ralph and Vera Lewis who starred in silent movies, and that she tracked the family to pre-revolutionary war America.
Judy was an active member of the Catholic church her entire life. During her time in Westfield, she was a Eucharistic minister and helped form a Christian Family Movement (CFM) group at Holy Trinity Church. Besides being very involved with the CFM programs, the entire family created lifelong friendships. Judy volunteered in the RCIA programs at both Our Lady of Mercy Church in Potomac and Ascension Church when she returned to Oak Park in 1991. She was also a lector at Ascension for many years. Judy always made sure she researched and practiced the readings many times in advance, especially to emphasize important portions.
Notably, Judy also was an enthusiastic and unabashed Chicago White Sox fan, refusing to ever jump on the Chicago Cubs’ bandwagon. She also enjoyed knitting. She knitted afghans, as well as baby blankets for her grandchildren, grand-nieces and nephews and often friends’ grandchildren.
Judy was a graduate of Ascension Elementary School in Oak Park and Notre Dame High School for Girls in Chicago. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in English from Loyola University Chicago and her Master in Library Service from Rutgers University.
She is survived by her sister Elaine (Herb) Thompson of Illinois; her children Jim (Lynn Jennings) Eisenmann of Maryland, Tom (Yuliya) Eisenmann of Connecticut, Dan (Erin) Eisenmann and Kate Eisenmann-Cabral (Robert Cabral) of Illinois; her eight grandchildren Griffin, Amelia, Vassily, Yevdokia, Kristofer, Kelly, Mateo and Nina; and many nieces and nephews.
A funeral mass was held in her honor at Ascension Catholic Church on January 9, 2020. Her remains will be buried at Rosehill Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers please send donations to Ascension Church (https://www.ascensionoakpark.com/apps/pages/giving), Ascension Elementary School (https://p2p.onecause.com/acensionschool/donate) and/or the Oak Park Public Library (https://www.oppl.org/about/give).
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