Corinne "Cory" Pingatore

Cory was born while her father Jim was serving in the US Marine Corps.  Jim returned from Vietnam in September of '68, and Jim and Nancy welcomed their daughter Corinne Lee Pingatore on October 8th, 1969.

Jim and Nancy lived on the base at Camp Lejeune until Dad was discharged in January of 1970.

The family moved to DeKalb IL that winter, where Dad resumed his collegiate studies.  After Jim graduated in January 1971, the family moved to LaPorte IN and lived with Cory's maternal grandparents, Helen and Duward Eaton, for a few months.  Jim was working at Midwest Steel when he moved the family (Nancy expecting son David, who would arrive in Sept '71) to their first residence in Valparaiso, at the Maison Royale Apartments on Beech Street.

While Jim's side of the family had put down roots in the Chicagoland area (Dad was raised in Cicero IL by James Annunzio "Pinky" Pingatore and his wife Zoe), Nancy's side of the family was full of Hoosiers.  Nancy had lived on Brown Street in Valpo during the first years of her life, until moving to LaPorte as a youngster.  At last she was back in Valpo once again.

After brother David was born, before too long it was time for young Cory to enroll in school.  Cory was sent for kindergarten and 1st grade to Parkview Elementary.  In 1976, Jim and Nancy bought their first house, and they moved to 1506 Lind Court North, in a cul-de-sac off Lind Lane, not too far from their apartment on Beech Street.  The neighborhood was overflowing with playmates, including a young Lawson family just a backyard away. 

A new home on Lind Lane meant changing schools, and Cory spent the rest of her childhood years enrolled at Thomas Jefferson Elementary, where her brother followed 2 years behind.  In 1979, Jim and Nancy bought a new home in Jefferson Park, and the foursome planned to move into 2113 Dunwoody Court, the family's residence to this day, as soon as the house was built.  The summer of '79 was spent watching the house go up, exploring a new neighborhood, and preparing to turn 10 years old.  The move a couple of miles away from Lind Lane meant no more walking to school, but it also made for great neighbors in Jefferson Park like the Cleis and Ritchea families.

Cory moved across the parking lot with her TJE classmates and enrolled at Thomas Jefferson Junior High.  Then on to Valparaiso High School in the fall of 1983, and here's where many of you reading this now overlap with your own biographies.  Cory graduated with a gold honors tassel from VHS, along with many friends to this day, in the Class of 1987.

On to Indiana University, where Cory was enrolled in the School of Business.  Cory enjoyed her years in Bloomington, and picked up many more friends along the way.  Graduating with a degree in Marketing in 1991, Cory joined the World's Largest Company, taking a job with Walmart where she was an assistant store manager.  Cory shuffled between cities as the Walmart Empire expanded across the upper midwest.  She spent time in Seymour IN, then on to open a store in Valpo, then off to South Bend IN, and finally opening another store in Niles MI. 

In 1995, on a referral from her beloved Aunty Nina, aka Janine (Dusek) Pingatore, Cory got out of the retail management gig with a sigh of relief, and took a job in Oakbrook IL with a merchandise import/export outift called Scan-Thor USA.  Cory moved to Chicago, where she would of course reside for the remainder of her life.  Chicago was a fascinating place to visit as a child, and Cory relished the chance to make the City her home.

By January of 1998, it was time for Cory to step up to the next challenge.  She retired from Scan-Thor, and took a job with MCI.  For two years she worked as an Account Executive, and she excelled at outside sales.  Cory delivered 190% of her sales objective in 1999, and was awarded the Presidents Club.  In 2000 Cory shifted her career in a different direction, and was named a Regional Trainer with MCI.  

After her arrival in Chicago in 1995, Cory lived in several spots around the City: old address books will have her listed at 3639 N Wayne, 3608 N Magnolia, 3252 N Southport, 2075 N Oakley, 2615 N Bosworth, or 1104 W Wellington.  During these years, Cory experienced lots of joy, as well as her share of disappointments, as all of us do.  Memories of friends made, experiences shared, and some friendships slipping away, dominated Cory's recollection of these years of her life.

In September of 2002, Cory purchased the residence that would be her home for the remainder of her life, a beautiful loft at 1500 West Monroe in the West Loop neighborhood.  Cory was extremely proud to be an independent woman living in her own place, after years of bouncing between rentals across the north side.

Back at work, after a year as a Trainer, Cory took the postion that best suited her degree and her area of expertise, and served as an MCI / Worldcom / Verizon "Branch Marketing Manager" for the next 5 and a half years.   Cory excelled in this position as well, where she helped to execute marketing plans representing annual revenues of over $100M.  She was essentially a liason between the Corporate marketing team and the field sales teams that she supported.  New friendships developed at Verizon became important in her life during these years as well, and Cory found more room in her heart for an ever widening circle of friends.

In July of 2006, there were massive lay offs at Verizon, and Cory along with many of her coworker/friends found themselves out of work.  As those close to Cory during this phase of her life will remember, this was a very difficult period for Cory to endure.  She was able to weather the storm, and eventually ended up re-employed with Verizon Business nearly a year after her initial severance.  Cory was hired back in June 2007 as a Marketing Consultant, and within a few months was serving in a new role as a Regional Marketing Manager.

On Thursday morning November 6th, shortly after 10am, Corinne was found deceased in her loft at 1500 West Monroe.  She was and will always remain a beloved member of a close-knit family, a dear friend to a whole host of those who will cherish their memories with Cory, and a unique and special soul in this world.

 

 

 

Born: Oct 08, 1969 in Camp Lejeune, NC

Died: Nov 06, 2008 in Chicago, IL

About: Indiana University Alumni class of '91, Valparaiso High School class of '87

Obituary

Corinne L. “Cory” Pingatore, 39, of Chicago, formerly of Valparaiso, died Thursday, November 6, 2008.  She was born October 8, 1969 at Camp Lejeune, NC to James and Nancy (Eaton) Pingatore.  Cory graduated with honors from Valparaiso High School in 1987, and received a degree in marketing from the Indiana University School of Business in 1991.  She had been employed as a Regional Marketing Manager with Verizon Business in Chicago.  Cory is survived by her parents, James and Nancy Pingatore of Valparaiso; one brother, David Pingatore of Dublin, CA; paternal grandparents, James A. and Zoe Pingatore of North Riverside, IL; aunts and uncles, Joyce Ganshaw, Steven Eaton, Judy Capalbo and Janine Dusek.  She was preceded in death by her maternal grandparents, Duward and Helen Eaton; and an infant brother, John.

Family and friends were extremely important to Cory, and during her life she gave them joy, sincerity, humor, compassion, generosity, and an exceptional charisma that will not be forgotten.
Following cremation at Angelcrest Crematory, a memorial visitation for family and friends will be held on Saturday, December 6th from 1:00 to 5:00 PM at Moeller Funeral Home, Valparaiso.  Private interment of ashes will take place at Graceland Cemetery at a later date.  In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the National MS Society.  moellerfuneralhome.com