Nancy A. Ludwig

Nancy Ann Ludwig, 62, died Tuesday morning in the same farmhouse where she had lived since she was 20 years old. Along the way she raised four sons and was the guiding force behind numerous small businesses that she and her husband, Howard, launched together.

She was raised by Robert and the late Carol Lorek in Lemont’s Pleasantdale subdivision. She was the oldest of four children and greatly enjoyed spending time with her sisters, Jeannie (Grodecki) and Sandy (Thompson) as well as with her brother, Bobby Lorek.

She married Howard Ludwig in 1976. The pair met at Lemont High School and married shortly thereafter. Their union produced four children, Howard A. (Katie), Matthew (Tessa), Brian and Thomas (Malgorzata). 

Howard and Nancy Ludwig quickly transformed their dirt-floor farmhouse into a loving and bustling home. Besides their boys, the pair also raised several thousand hogs and together produced countless bushels of corn and soybeans on the farm that sits tucked behind Ludwig’s Feed Store.

Other business ventures included the sale of pumpkins, Christmas trees, sunflowers, pulverized black dirt, culvert pipes and more. Howard and Nancy Ludwig also briefly operated a chemical trucking business, which Nancy was all too happy to sell.

Their signature business remains Country Landscape and Supply. 

Nancy Ludwig handled all of the paperwork for these many business ventures. She was a consistent voice of reason and a steady hand when it came to child rearing as well as corporate decision making. 

She was also a compassionate mother and a loving wife. She made the best pork roast anyone has ever tasted and more gallons of iced tea than anyone could imagine. The woman who spent most of her life with her hair in a bun was also known to wake up her teenage sons by pulling on their toes.

Nancy Ludwig was also a true friend. She enjoyed going out to dinner and Downtown plays. She never missed a wedding or a baby shower.

In later years, she embraced the role of grandmother for Howard D. (Bubba), Peter, Matthew (Moose), Alivia, Nick, Parker, Elliana and Milena. She will be remembered for her overly generous birthday and Christmas gifts as well as the bowl of jelly beans she kept stocked by the front door.

Visitation for Nancy Ludwig will be from 3-8 p.m. Friday at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, 13030 W. 143rd St., Homer Glen. The funeral Mass will be held at 10 a.m. also at St. Bernard’s with visitation from 9-10 a.m.

 In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Bernard’s Catholic Church are welcome.