Michelle Orna

Michelle was an only child and did not come from an affluent family. She had to work her way through high school at St. Benedicts by cleaning classrooms and helping in the cafeteria to help cover her tuition cost. I think that this is why she developed such a strong work ethic and why she never took anything for granted. Michelle loved music and played guitar at Sunday Mass and weddings during her high school years. She also loved animals and worked at a pet shop during this time. However, she was allergic to fur and feathers and would have asthma attacks from working with the animals and in later years from our rabbits and parakeets. Michelle married her husband Wayne on April 13, 1980. She told her mom when they were first dating, that this was the man she was going to marry. Wayne did not stand a chance. This was another goal Michelle achieved during her lifetime and they have been married for 32 years. Michelle’s working career was in the banking field. She began her career as a bank teller at the Marina City Towers Bank in Chicago and worked at several other banks during her career. She believed strongly in education and went back to school full time to get her Bachelors Degree in Instructional Design from Northeastern Illinois University. She started working at The Northern Trust Company in 1990 in this field. She continued her education at night classes and got her Master’s degree and graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northeastern Illinois University in 1994. Michelle reached the level of II Vice President at The Northern Trust Company before she started on long term disability at the end of her career. Michelle loved many things and had many interests. Some of these included; reading, cooking, trying new foods, meeting new people, fall colors, travel, star gazing and Hawaiian rainbows/sunsets. The thing that she loved the most was experiencing new things. She was never boring and one hell of a good Yahtzee player. She was raised a Chicago White Sox fan by her dad, although they lived on the north side of Chicago near Wrigley Field. She met Frank Thomas (the Big Hurt) a day before her birthday on a night flight to Vegas. Michelle was a truly kind and generous person who cared deeply about others. She would frequently donate food to the River Grove food pantry, since growing up as a child she knew what it was like to do without. Michelle was opinionated and spoke her mind when needed. She did not pull any punches. When she attended Wright College working on her Associates Degree, she marched around the college in a protest against the tuition rate hike chanting and carrying a sign saying “Fight The Hike“. Michelle was goal orientated and a meticulous planner, unlike her husband. She set the goal of setting foot on all 7 continents before her 40th birthday and achieved this goal with less than 3 months to spare. She rode a camel at the pyramids in Egypt, climbed the Great Wall of China, landed on the Tasman Glacier in New Zealand, visited Iceland and Greenland, crossed both the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and visited Hawaii 35 times. She was an American Airlines AAdvantage program 1 Million Mile member and was of the way to earning her 2nd million. She refused to let cancer stop her from traveling and living her life her way. She would always say that she 'dragged her husband Wayne to the ends of the Earth'. Michelle was also fearless. She was in (3) hurricanes during her lifetime. The 1st in Hawaii, the 2nd on the way to Antarctica at sea and the last in Bermuda. She signed many insurance death waivers without a thought pursuing her dreams. These included ones for; swimming with the Dolphins in Florida, the Antarctic cruise, the Richard Petty Nascar Experience in DisneyWorld, a polar bear excursion in Point Barrow Alaska and last for tandem parasailing off the Rothorn mountain in Switzerland near Zermatt. Michelle loved life and lived it to it’s fullest. She was an amazing person and partner in life. She was one of a kind. She was truly loved by many and will be missed by us all. The world grew a little darker this past Wednesday when she passed away, but heaven grew a little brighter. This Christmas please think of Michelle and ring a bell for her. She would always say every time a bell rings an angel gets her wings just like in the movie It‘s A Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart. Love,Wayne.Michelle is survived by her loving husband Wayne for 32 years. and she is the aunt of Kevin and Kristen (Nicholas) White. Cousin and Friend to many. Preceeded in death by her parents, Harold and Rosemary Weishaar. In Lieu of flowers donations to the American Cancer Society. Cancer.org. Visitation Sunday from 2:00 until 8:00 p.m. and Monday from 10:00 a.m. until time of funeral service at 11:00 a.m. at Cumberland Chapels 8300 W. Lawrence Ave. Norridge, Il. Interment will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in River Grove.