Grace Cleys

Chicago - Grace Gertrude Cleys, 98, passed away peacefully while in hospice at Lutheran General Hospital on Tuesday, September 7,2021. Much of her family was able to be with her in her departing days.
She was born to Theresa Nelligan Cianglo and Joseph Nelligan Sr. in Chicago on March 24, 1923. Grace attended school at Lake View High School and thereafter became a bookkeeper at First National Bank of Chicago. She married the late Albert F. Cleys in 1948 becoming a stay-at-home mom beginning in 1949. Grace was an avid card player and prolific poet. Many of her poems have been published and others are cherished possessions of family and friends for whom they were specifically written. Hard of hearing her entire life, she was a skilled lip reader, who for years taught lip reading for the Chicago Hearing Society. Grace was a very social person and many will remember her for her humor, friendliness and her easy-going nature with which she navigated life.
Grace was predeceased by her husband Al ,son Kenneth, his wife Sharon, brothers Joseph Jr. “Jack” and Don Nelligan, as well as her parents Theresa and Joseph. She is survived by sons Richard and Thomas, daughter Kathy, daughter-in-law Kathleen, 7 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations in her memory to the Chicago Hearing Society (chicagohearingsociety.org/donate-to-chicago-hearing-society/ ). Visitation will take place on Friday, September 17, 2021 from 2:00 until 8:00 p.m. at Cumberland Chapels 8300 W. Lawrence Ave. Norridge. Funeral Saturday, beginning at the funeral home at 9:00 a.m. and will then proceed to St. Monica Church for 10:00 a.m. Mass. Interment will follow at St. Boniface Cemetery in Chicago.