The DONNELLAN FAMILY FUNERAL SERVICES
Mary Louise Stepan Wehman February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Marilee Wehman nee Stepan age 86 of Winnetka. Beloved wife of Richard H. Wehman, Sr.; loving mother of Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally; proud grandmother of Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally; great grandmother of Cormac, Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh; dear sister of Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan. Visitation, Friday, December 17, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. until time of Funeral Mass 10 a.m. at Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church, 1077 Tower Road Winnetka, Illinios 60093. Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.∼Mary Louise Stepan Wehman
February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Olympian, Lyric Opera leader, Cristo Rey founder
Marilee was born in Chicago on February 2, 1935, the first of seven children, to Alfred C Stepan, Jr, and Mary Louise Quinn Stepan. She was christened "Mary Louise" but always known by her nickname, Marilee. Her mother and namesake was a US National Champion freestyle swimmer and Marilee quickly followed in her footsteps
At the age of 17, as a junior at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Marilee became the US National Champion and recordholder in the 220-yard freestyle. Between her junior and senior year at Woodlands, she swam at the US Olympic trials and earned a place on the 1952 US Olympic Team which competed in the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. In those games, Marilee was a finalist in the 100-meter freestyle event and won a bronze medal as a member of the 4 x 100 meter free style relay team..
Later in life, when interviewed about her early training as a swimmer, she remarked, "I was a student at Woodlands Academy. We had no pool, no coach, and no team. So, I trained with the boys at the Lake Shore Club in Chicago." She would later become one of the first women and one of the first former Olympic athletes to serve as a Board Member on the US Olympic Committee and recalled in graphic detail the tortured deliberations within the USOC in 1980 that ultimately resulted in a vote to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympic Games after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
After the Olympics and finishing Woodlands, Marilee attended Barat College of the Scared Heart in Lake Forest before marrying Richard Halley Wehman on June 18, 1956. After a few years in Texas, Marilee and Dick moved to Winnetka in1958 where they have lived in the same house for the past 63 years. They also kept a winter residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
While raising a family of four in Winnetka, Marilee worked as an executive producer at WTTW Channel 11, the area's PBS affiliate, on a show titled Profile Chicago. She was also involved in launching the annual WTTW auction for which she was honored by the Junior League of Chicago as one of their "People Making a Difference."
Marilee's father, Alfred C. Stepan, Jr., was a founding member of the Lyric Opera Board of Directors and, as she followed her mother's footsteps in swimming, she followed in her father's footsteps as a pioneer of the Lyric Opera Women's Board on which she served for over 50 years. When the current Lyric Opera Director Anthony Freud first joined the company, he was welcomed to Chicago at an event at the Wehman's home where a cast from the Lyric Ryan Opera Center performed. Marilee was a keen and close collaborator with the Lyric Opera's Director of Development, Mary Selander, and was instrumental in bringing her to the company more than 22 years ago.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee further served on the Women's Board at Northwestern University and endowed the Marilee Prize, a scholarship for underprivileged female athletes, at the University of Chicago. But in the category of supporting education, she was most proud of being the Founding Trustee of the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Pilsen-Little Village Chicago. The 1996 brainchild of Marilee and her childhood friend, Rev. John P. Foley, S.J, (who, after 20 years in Peru was returning to Chicago to open a new chapter in his career and relearn his then forgotten native tongue of English), the Cristo Rey High School – which integrates four years of rigorous college preparatory academics with four years of professional work experience – now comprises a network of 38 schools across the country serving over 12,300 students of limited academic means.
Interviewed about Cristo Rey in 2009, Marilee gushed, "It is a brilliant concept. The students go to school four days a week, and on the fifth they work in a Chicago business and earn money for their tuition…Many of the young people are the first in their families to graduate from high school. Father Foley and I invited all the college presidents in the area for lunch, one on one, and asked them to give our students scholarships, partial or otherwise. They all said yes. Cristo Rey is the best thing I have accomplished."
In additional to her beloved Richard, Marilee leaves behind: • four children, Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally;
• ten grandchildren, Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally;
• three great grandchildren, Cormac and Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh;
• her siblings Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan;
• and a speed boat named "Fabo," in honor her most frequently used exclamation, a contraction of the word that expressed her relentless joy for life: "FABULOUS!."
Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to:
Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church
1077 Tower Road
Winnetka, IL 60093
Mary Louise Stepan Wehman February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Marilee Wehman nee Stepan age 86 of Winnetka. Beloved wife of Richard H. Wehman, Sr.; loving mother of Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally; proud grandmother of Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally; great grandmother of Cormac, Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh; dear sister of Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan. Visitation, Friday, December 17, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. until time of Funeral Mass 10 a.m. at Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church, 1077 Tower Road Winnetka, Illinios 60093. Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.∼Mary Louise Stepan Wehman
February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Olympian, Lyric Opera leader, Cristo Rey founder
Marilee was born in Chicago on February 2, 1935, the first of seven children, to Alfred C Stepan, Jr, and Mary Louise Quinn Stepan. She was christened "Mary Louise" but always known by her nickname, Marilee. Her mother and namesake was a US National Champion freestyle swimmer and Marilee quickly followed in her footsteps
At the age of 17, as a junior at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Marilee became the US National Champion and recordholder in the 220-yard freestyle. Between her junior and senior year at Woodlands, she swam at the US Olympic trials and earned a place on the 1952 US Olympic Team which competed in the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. In those games, Marilee was a finalist in the 100-meter freestyle event and won a bronze medal as a member of the 4 x 100 meter free style relay team..
Later in life, when interviewed about her early training as a swimmer, she remarked, "I was a student at Woodlands Academy. We had no pool, no coach, and no team. So, I trained with the boys at the Lake Shore Club in Chicago." She would later become one of the first women and one of the first former Olympic athletes to serve as a Board Member on the US Olympic Committee and recalled in graphic detail the tortured deliberations within the USOC in 1980 that ultimately resulted in a vote to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympic Games after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
After the Olympics and finishing Woodlands, Marilee attended Barat College of the Scared Heart in Lake Forest before marrying Richard Halley Wehman on June 18, 1956. After a few years in Texas, Marilee and Dick moved to Winnetka in1958 where they have lived in the same house for the past 63 years. They also kept a winter residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
While raising a family of four in Winnetka, Marilee worked as an executive producer at WTTW Channel 11, the area's PBS affiliate, on a show titled Profile Chicago. She was also involved in launching the annual WTTW auction for which she was honored by the Junior League of Chicago as one of their "People Making a Difference."
Marilee's father, Alfred C. Stepan, Jr., was a founding member of the Lyric Opera Board of Directors and, as she followed her mother's footsteps in swimming, she followed in her father's footsteps as a pioneer of the Lyric Opera Women's Board on which she served for over 50 years. When the current Lyric Opera Director Anthony Freud first joined the company, he was welcomed to Chicago at an event at the Wehman's home where a cast from the Lyric Ryan Opera Center performed. Marilee was a keen and close collaborator with the Lyric Opera's Director of Development, Mary Selander, and was instrumental in bringing her to the company more than 22 years ago.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee further served on the Women's Board at Northwestern University and endowed the Marilee Prize, a scholarship for underprivileged female athletes, at the University of Chicago. But in the category of supporting education, she was most proud of being the Founding Trustee of the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Pilsen-Little Village Chicago. The 1996 brainchild of Marilee and her childhood friend, Rev. John P. Foley, S.J, (who, after 20 years in Peru was returning to Chicago to open a new chapter in his career and relearn his then forgotten native tongue of English), the Cristo Rey High School – which integrates four years of rigorous college preparatory academics with four years of professional work experience – now comprises a network of 38 schools across the country serving over 12,300 students of limited academic means.
Interviewed about Cristo Rey in 2009, Marilee gushed, "It is a brilliant concept. The students go to school four days a week, and on the fifth they work in a Chicago business and earn money for their tuition…Many of the young people are the first in their families to graduate from high school. Father Foley and I invited all the college presidents in the area for lunch, one on one, and asked them to give our students scholarships, partial or otherwise. They all said yes. Cristo Rey is the best thing I have accomplished."
In additional to her beloved Richard, Marilee leaves behind: • four children, Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally;
• ten grandchildren, Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally;
• three great grandchildren, Cormac and Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh;
• her siblings Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan;
• and a speed boat named "Fabo," in honor her most frequently used exclamation, a contraction of the word that expressed her relentless joy for life: "FABULOUS!."
Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to:
Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church
1077 Tower Road
Winnetka, IL 60093
The DONNELLAN FAMILY FUNERAL SERVICES
Mary Louise Stepan Wehman February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Marilee Wehman nee Stepan age 86 of Winnetka. Beloved wife of Richard H. Wehman, Sr.; loving mother of Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally; proud grandmother of Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally; great grandmother of Cormac, Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh; dear sister of Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan. Visitation, Friday, December 17, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. until time of Funeral Mass 10 a.m. at Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church, 1077 Tower Road Winnetka, Illinios 60093. Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.∼Mary Louise Stepan Wehman
February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Olympian, Lyric Opera leader, Cristo Rey founder
Marilee was born in Chicago on February 2, 1935, the first of seven children, to Alfred C Stepan, Jr, and Mary Louise Quinn Stepan. She was christened "Mary Louise" but always known by her nickname, Marilee. Her mother and namesake was a US National Champion freestyle swimmer and Marilee quickly followed in her footsteps
At the age of 17, as a junior at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Marilee became the US National Champion and recordholder in the 220-yard freestyle. Between her junior and senior year at Woodlands, she swam at the US Olympic trials and earned a place on the 1952 US Olympic Team which competed in the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. In those games, Marilee was a finalist in the 100-meter freestyle event and won a bronze medal as a member of the 4 x 100 meter free style relay team..
Later in life, when interviewed about her early training as a swimmer, she remarked, "I was a student at Woodlands Academy. We had no pool, no coach, and no team. So, I trained with the boys at the Lake Shore Club in Chicago." She would later become one of the first women and one of the first former Olympic athletes to serve as a Board Member on the US Olympic Committee and recalled in graphic detail the tortured deliberations within the USOC in 1980 that ultimately resulted in a vote to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympic Games after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
After the Olympics and finishing Woodlands, Marilee attended Barat College of the Scared Heart in Lake Forest before marrying Richard Halley Wehman on June 18, 1956. After a few years in Texas, Marilee and Dick moved to Winnetka in1958 where they have lived in the same house for the past 63 years. They also kept a winter residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
While raising a family of four in Winnetka, Marilee worked as an executive producer at WTTW Channel 11, the area's PBS affiliate, on a show titled Profile Chicago. She was also involved in launching the annual WTTW auction for which she was honored by the Junior League of Chicago as one of their "People Making a Difference."
Marilee's father, Alfred C. Stepan, Jr., was a founding member of the Lyric Opera Board of Directors and, as she followed her mother's footsteps in swimming, she followed in her father's footsteps as a pioneer of the Lyric Opera Women's Board on which she served for over 50 years. When the current Lyric Opera Director Anthony Freud first joined the company, he was welcomed to Chicago at an event at the Wehman's home where a cast from the Lyric Ryan Opera Center performed. Marilee was a keen and close collaborator with the Lyric Opera's Director of Development, Mary Selander, and was instrumental in bringing her to the company more than 22 years ago.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee further served on the Women's Board at Northwestern University and endowed the Marilee Prize, a scholarship for underprivileged female athletes, at the University of Chicago. But in the category of supporting education, she was most proud of being the Founding Trustee of the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Pilsen-Little Village Chicago. The 1996 brainchild of Marilee and her childhood friend, Rev. John P. Foley, S.J, (who, after 20 years in Peru was returning to Chicago to open a new chapter in his career and relearn his then forgotten native tongue of English), the Cristo Rey High School – which integrates four years of rigorous college preparatory academics with four years of professional work experience – now comprises a network of 38 schools across the country serving over 12,300 students of limited academic means.
Interviewed about Cristo Rey in 2009, Marilee gushed, "It is a brilliant concept. The students go to school four days a week, and on the fifth they work in a Chicago business and earn money for their tuition…Many of the young people are the first in their families to graduate from high school. Father Foley and I invited all the college presidents in the area for lunch, one on one, and asked them to give our students scholarships, partial or otherwise. They all said yes. Cristo Rey is the best thing I have accomplished."
In additional to her beloved Richard, Marilee leaves behind: • four children, Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally;
• ten grandchildren, Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally;
• three great grandchildren, Cormac and Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh;
• her siblings Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan;
• and a speed boat named "Fabo," in honor her most frequently used exclamation, a contraction of the word that expressed her relentless joy for life: "FABULOUS!."
Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to:
Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church
1077 Tower Road
Winnetka, IL 60093
Mary Louise Stepan Wehman February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Marilee Wehman nee Stepan age 86 of Winnetka. Beloved wife of Richard H. Wehman, Sr.; loving mother of Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally; proud grandmother of Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally; great grandmother of Cormac, Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh; dear sister of Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan. Visitation, Friday, December 17, 2021 from 9:00 a.m. until time of Funeral Mass 10 a.m. at Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church, 1077 Tower Road Winnetka, Illinios 60093. Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.∼Mary Louise Stepan Wehman
February 2, 1935 - December 15, 2021
Olympian, Lyric Opera leader, Cristo Rey founder
Marilee was born in Chicago on February 2, 1935, the first of seven children, to Alfred C Stepan, Jr, and Mary Louise Quinn Stepan. She was christened "Mary Louise" but always known by her nickname, Marilee. Her mother and namesake was a US National Champion freestyle swimmer and Marilee quickly followed in her footsteps
At the age of 17, as a junior at Woodlands Academy of the Sacred Heart in Lake Forest, Marilee became the US National Champion and recordholder in the 220-yard freestyle. Between her junior and senior year at Woodlands, she swam at the US Olympic trials and earned a place on the 1952 US Olympic Team which competed in the Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. In those games, Marilee was a finalist in the 100-meter freestyle event and won a bronze medal as a member of the 4 x 100 meter free style relay team..
Later in life, when interviewed about her early training as a swimmer, she remarked, "I was a student at Woodlands Academy. We had no pool, no coach, and no team. So, I trained with the boys at the Lake Shore Club in Chicago." She would later become one of the first women and one of the first former Olympic athletes to serve as a Board Member on the US Olympic Committee and recalled in graphic detail the tortured deliberations within the USOC in 1980 that ultimately resulted in a vote to boycott the Moscow Summer Olympic Games after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.
After the Olympics and finishing Woodlands, Marilee attended Barat College of the Scared Heart in Lake Forest before marrying Richard Halley Wehman on June 18, 1956. After a few years in Texas, Marilee and Dick moved to Winnetka in1958 where they have lived in the same house for the past 63 years. They also kept a winter residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
While raising a family of four in Winnetka, Marilee worked as an executive producer at WTTW Channel 11, the area's PBS affiliate, on a show titled Profile Chicago. She was also involved in launching the annual WTTW auction for which she was honored by the Junior League of Chicago as one of their "People Making a Difference."
Marilee's father, Alfred C. Stepan, Jr., was a founding member of the Lyric Opera Board of Directors and, as she followed her mother's footsteps in swimming, she followed in her father's footsteps as a pioneer of the Lyric Opera Women's Board on which she served for over 50 years. When the current Lyric Opera Director Anthony Freud first joined the company, he was welcomed to Chicago at an event at the Wehman's home where a cast from the Lyric Ryan Opera Center performed. Marilee was a keen and close collaborator with the Lyric Opera's Director of Development, Mary Selander, and was instrumental in bringing her to the company more than 22 years ago.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee also served as a Life Trustee of Lyric Ryan Opera Center for more than 35 years, and was a Trustee of the Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, all positions that might appear incongruous for a woman who was an inductee of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame, but were equally and genuinely embraced by Marilee as perfectly compatible dimensions of a rich, well-lived life.
Marilee further served on the Women's Board at Northwestern University and endowed the Marilee Prize, a scholarship for underprivileged female athletes, at the University of Chicago. But in the category of supporting education, she was most proud of being the Founding Trustee of the Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Pilsen-Little Village Chicago. The 1996 brainchild of Marilee and her childhood friend, Rev. John P. Foley, S.J, (who, after 20 years in Peru was returning to Chicago to open a new chapter in his career and relearn his then forgotten native tongue of English), the Cristo Rey High School – which integrates four years of rigorous college preparatory academics with four years of professional work experience – now comprises a network of 38 schools across the country serving over 12,300 students of limited academic means.
Interviewed about Cristo Rey in 2009, Marilee gushed, "It is a brilliant concept. The students go to school four days a week, and on the fifth they work in a Chicago business and earn money for their tuition…Many of the young people are the first in their families to graduate from high school. Father Foley and I invited all the college presidents in the area for lunch, one on one, and asked them to give our students scholarships, partial or otherwise. They all said yes. Cristo Rey is the best thing I have accomplished."
In additional to her beloved Richard, Marilee leaves behind: • four children, Richard, Jr. (Maria) Wehman, Mary Louise (Robert) Kiernan, Karen Kennedy and Alison (Drew) McNally;
• ten grandchildren, Molly, Richard, III and Lilly Wehman, Marilee Kiernan, M.D. (Jordan Sauer), Erin Kiernan (Jack Walsh), Stratford and Robert Kennedy, Tatum, Margaret, and Wellesley McNally;
• three great grandchildren, Cormac and Mary Louise "Quinn" Sauer, and Theodore "Teddy" Walsh;
• her siblings Quinn (the late Snowy) Stepan, Stratford (Judy) Stepan, Charlotte (James) Shea, John (Bonnie) Stepan, the late Alfred (Nancy) Stepan, the late Paul (the late Ann) Stepan;
• and a speed boat named "Fabo," in honor her most frequently used exclamation, a contraction of the word that expressed her relentless joy for life: "FABULOUS!."
Interment Sacred Heart Cemetery, Northbrook.
In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to:
Divine Mercy Parish at Sacred Heart Church
1077 Tower Road
Winnetka, IL 60093
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