Mary Hemza Obituary
After graduating cum laude from the University of St. Francis with a degree in nursing, Mary dedicated her life to her treasured family and to the compassionate care of her pediatric and hospital patients. In her spare time, she also enjoyed lengthy walks with her faithful canine companions, Cricket and Mable.
Mary dedicated most of her life to Karate; faithfully studying twenty years under her sensei in sho-rei and go-ju, she achieved a third-degree black belt, and grew a loving second family.
Mary is survived by her supportive parents; her devoted husband, Jeffrey Hemza; her beloved children, Alyssa (Ben) Cochran, Geoffrey (Mya) Hemza, Olivia (William) Moyers, Kirk (Katherine) Jones; and her cherished grandchildren, Benjamin, Perry, Asher, Jordyn, Jasper, and eagerly anticipated Maryann Alise.
To honor Mary's wishes, a celebration of life ceremony will be held, date pending. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Mary's church, The Village Christian Church of Minooka, or for the wishes of the family. Mary will be missed by all who knew her gentle, loving soul.
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Marianne Drenthe
September 5, 2025
I remember one of the first times I met Mary, I recognized her and her cute little one (Olivia) from the gym and it was Halloween Trick or Treating time. I immediately got the sense that Mary Hemza was one of the good ones.
In mom life you often run into moms that are awesome and my immediate gut instinct on Mary's spirit was spot on.
I witnessed a woman who over the years invited my youngest into her home and treated her like her own. A kind woman, a gentle soul, a compassionate caring soul. Truly our world needs more people like Mary and in our world: she will be missed.
As the years went on and our girls grew up and apart (as sometimes happens) I always held a special spot in my heart for Mary and her family. I would often run into Mary while she was walking her dogs (Cricket who is missed and then Mabel). One time my dogs and I were deep in the woods, a good 100 feet or maybe more off the usual beaten path and all of a sudden I looked down to see Mabel next to us and I heard Mary's sweet voice calling out for her: "MABEL...MABEL...come back!" and I was giggling because Mabel was onto a scent she recognized (us) and I shouted back: "She's ok, she's with us!"
Which was something I'd often say when Mary would call looking for her Little Olivia. "It's ok, she's with us!" :D If you know...you know.
Anyway Mary was an amazing kind woman - the kind of genuine person you want in your children's lives modeling what women should be. She is missed and will be missed. May all whose lives she touched be comforted by her everlasting mark on their lives and may the comfort of shared memories of this amazing soul be a reminder that life is meant to be safe, gentle and kind to all.
Michelle Sullivan
August 26, 2025
Mary was an amazing mom and grandmother. I loved when she would come to karate class because she would bring her beautiful smile and gentle demeanor to a class where we would try to figure out how to defend ourselves from attackers. Her and Mr. Hemza were always so helpful to all the students as we learned katas and self-defense. She always brought a peacefulness and joy to everyone she met and interacted with. Her patience was something to be emulated when she would bring Ben to class and care for him while helping the students. My sorrow and prayers go out to Jeff and the whole Hemza family. My family will keep her and the whole Hemza family in our prayers. I also lost my mom this summer to pancreatic cancer and I understand the heartache. She was truly a beautiful person who now is a delight to the Lord and rests in His loving arms.
Alyssa Cochran
August 19, 2025
Jeffrey Hemza
August 17, 2025
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Jeffrey Hemza
August 16, 2025
Jon and zjen Boyle
August 14, 2025
Aunt Mary was always doing for others. She wanted the people she loved to happy and content. She had the most beautiful smile and when she smiled at her family, you knew how much she loved them. God bless her and keep her.
Jacob Hill
August 12, 2025
I´m not to sure what to write but I´ll give it whirl...
Mary and Jeff are some of the nicest people you could EVER hope to meet. Though I only knew Mary a short time, one could immediately feel the love she had for everyone and everything around her. She just had this aura of.....goodness or kindness about her. As I got to know her better you can hear and feel the love she had for her family in the way she spoke about them, whether good or bad, but you could especially see this in her patience with them.
One moment I will always remember is when Jeff and I came to the house to continue working on replacing his roof after working a half day on something else. Now I don´t remember if Mary was actually still on the roof or if we just noticed a portion had been removed without us there but Mary had taken it upon herself to get on this very steep and dangerous roof and start....."helping". Now I´m not sure if anyone reading this has ever done roofing before but it´s no joke to demo and replace a roof. The point of my memory though is Mary knew how hard it was on us so she wanted to help us cause that´s the kind of person she was.
......or it could have been her patience was growing thin with us BUT.....
I´ll continue to believe it was the first one.
This world needs more people like Mary, she will be missed. I take comfort in knowing the way she was lives on with her children and grandchildren.
Jeff....much love buddy. I´m so sorry for your loss. Please reach out if you need anything.
Jeffrey Hemza
August 11, 2025
Jeffrey Hemza
August 10, 2025
Olivia Hemza
August 10, 2025
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