Anne E (Olin) Verbeke

Anne Elizabeth Olin Verbeke

Anne Verbeke, 82, of Olympia Fields, Illinois was born into eternal life on October 16, 2018. Anne passed away after a brief illness.

Born in 1936 Anne was one of six children born to Clinton and Edna Olin from Aledo, Illinois. Anne was raised by her mother Edna T, after losing her father to cancer when she was two years old.

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Anne attended The Villa de Chantal which was a Catholic girls boarding and day school operated by the Sisters of the Visitation graduating in 1954. Anne went on to attend Fontbonne University, a women's only college, operated by the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph (CSJ). Anne graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1958.

Anne met the love of her life Edmund (Ed) Verbeke in 1956. They were married shortly after her college graduation in Alexis, Illinois at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church in August of 1958.

After their wedding, Anne and Ed moved to Norfolk, Virginia where Ed served in the Navy on board the USS Mullinnix assigned to the Atlantic Fleet. During Ed’s service, Anne taught school in Hull Massachusetts on Cape Cod.

Anne’s first baby was born in 1959 in Norfolk Naval Hospital while Ed was away at sea. After Ed’s active duty, Anne and Ed moved to St. Louis, his hometown, where he joined Ford Motor Company. Anne and Ed had three more children, one of whom passed away shortly after birth.

 In 1962, Anne moved with Ed to Livonia, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, following Ed’s transfer by Ford Motor Company, where she had two more children bringing the total to five. By 1964, Anne had four children under five-years old. Anne managed this chaos while Ed traveled throughout the world as an auditor for Ford.  Anne and Ed lived in Michigan for fifteen years, during which time she made many friends and was extremely active in the religious education program of her parish church, St. Edith, where she was the Religious Education Director.  Anne, with help from Ed, ran the program unpaid for 9-years until Ed’s transfer by Ford to Chicago in 1975.

Anne and Ed settled with their family in Olympia Fields and Anne immediately picked up where she left off by becoming the Religious Education Director at her new parish St. Irenaeus in Park Forest, Illinois. Anne, again with help from Ed, ran the program unpaid for 12-years retiring in 1988.

Anne joined the diocese of Gary, Indiana in 1992, her first paid position since 1958, eventually becoming Director of the Office of Parish Pastoral Councils and Lay Ecclesial Ministry.

In 1996, Anne graduated from Catholic Theological Union with a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies. Anne and Ed celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in 2008 and by this time, all five children were married and she and Ed were blessed with ten grandchildren.  Anne finally retired from work in December of 2015 at the age of 79 years.

Anne was most proud that she and Ed were able to send all five children to college, no small feat on one salary.  A further source of pride was the advanced degrees earned by many of her children and grandchildren.

Anne is preceded in death by her mother and father Clinton and Edna T Olin, her daughter Mary Catherine, and her husband of sixty years, Ed Verbeke.

Anne is survived by her sister Mary Olin Gillen, her children Thomas (Carrie), Timothy (Barbara), Anne (Mathew) McManus, John (Jill), Sarah (Paul) Machamer, eleven grandchildren and four great grandchildren.

Donations in Anne’s memory can be made to the Anne Verbeke Lay Ecclesial Ministry Endowment; the endowment provides scholarships to students, with financial need, enrolled in the Diocese of Gary Lay Ecclesial Ministry program at Catholic Foundation for Northwest Indiana 9292 Broadway Merrillville, IN 46410.

Visitation 3-9 p.m. Sunday October 21, 2018 at Lain-Sullivan Funeral Home 50 Westwood Dr. Park Forest, Illinois. Lying-in-State Monday  9:00 a.m. October 22, 2018 at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Chicago Heights, Illinois. Mass 10:00 a.m. Interment Private.

For information or to express your memories visit our online guest book at www.lain-sullivan.com.  or call 708-747-3700