VASO KATIC

VASO KATIC
Hammond, Indiana
1928-2010

Vaso Katic, 81, of Hammond, Indiana, died Tuesday, January 26, 2010 after a lengthy hospitalization. Vaso was born on April 2, 1928 in Koljane, Dalmatia, former Yugoslavia. He is survived by his wife, Ana (Annie) Katic; and son, Attorney Peter Katic, both of Hammond, IN; daughter, Mary (Joseph) Lubek; and grandson and granddaughter, Jordan and Roseann Lubek, all of Reno, NV; brother, Nikola (Boja) Katic of Batajnica, Serbia; sister-in-law, Dusanka (late Ilija) Katic of Hammond; cousin, Jelena (late Petar) Tutush of Colorado; nephews Milorad, Eli and Nick Samardzija, Milan Katic and Dusan Tutush, all locally; and nieces, Mirjana Hamilton of Tacoma, Washinton, Marija Katic of Florida and Milica Yonkaitis and Danica Lucker, both of Colorado; nephews and nieces in Serbia, Ljubica, Bosa, Nada, Milena, Snezana, Marina, Ile, Mile, Jovan, Mira and Dragica; wife Annie's family in Canada, Kata (Ilija) Bacic, Milan (late Marija) Vujovic, Josip (late Ivanka) Zarkovic, and Mari (late George) Novacic; with Annie's nephews and nieces, Marlene, Linda, Dusan, George, Nikola, Mandy, Anne Marie, Georgina, Patricia, Nick and Donna; Kumovi (matrimonial & baptismal) Ilija and Danica Kalinic; and family of Schererville, and many family, Kumovi and friends throughout the U.S., Canada, Serbia, and Paris, France. Funeral Services will be held Saturday, January 30, 2010 at 11 AM DIRECTLY at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Schererville, IN with Very Rev. Dobrivoje Milunovic officiating. At rest, Calumet Park Cemetery, Merrillville, IN. Friends are invited to call on Friday from 3 to 8 p.m. at Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home, 7607 West Lincoln Highway, Schererville, IN (Rt. 30 east of Cline Ave.). Pomen prayer service at 7 p.m. Vaso's family thanks the doctors, nurses and caregivers at Community Hospital, St. Margaret Hospital, and most especially to our "family" at Manor Care Nursing Home in South Holland. Mr. Katic was a retired steelworker from Inland Steel Company where he was a member of the Inland 25-Year Club. He was a member of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Schererville, Movement of Serbian Chetniks "Ravna Gora," Schererville Chapter, where he was a founding member, and Serb National Federation Lodge #171. Vaso was the 8th of 12 children born to Nikola and Marija (nee Tutus) Katic. Along with his father and older brother Ilija Katic and sister Dragica Samardzija, he fled his homeland in the Fall of 1944 with the Chetniks (Royalist Freedom Fighters) in former Yugoslavia due to Communist Partisan aggression. They found abode in refugee camps in Italy and Germany, before Vaso migrated to Canada in the late 1940's. He married and raised his 3 children in Canada, moving to East Chicago in 1963. Vaso died on his wife's 79th birthday and is reunited with his beloved daughter Nada who died in 2001, his father Nikola (1958) and mother Marija who died on the same date, January 26, in 1967. He was most industrious in providing for his family and respected his faith, people and roots. From refugee status (displaced person) to new freedom in Canada and America, he avidly followed government and politics of all stripes nationally and internationally. He will be missed by family and Kumovi, church and work friends, as well as surviving Serb Royalist Freedom Fighter Veterans world-wide. Vjecnaja Pamjat! Memory Eternal!