Yftu Pelligrino

Yftu Pelligrino, age 68, passed away peacefully surrounded by family and friends on January 1, 2024.
Yftu was the loving mother of Nicole (Nicholas Thomas) Pelligrino, Julie (Kyle) Pelligrino-Hartman and Erik Pelligrino. She was a proud grandma of Lillian and cherished sister of Barbaro (Andrew) Webber.
Yftu was preceded in death by her beloved husband Dale Pelligrino as well as her parents, Karl and Lilian Englund.
Yftu was born in Ethiopia, and adopted from Addis Ababa when she was five years old by Karl and Lilian, her Swedish diplomat father and his wife. Through her father's work with the United Nations, they and lived all over the world, from numerous countries in Africa, to the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. After moving to Sweden for college, she met her future husband Dale, an American completing a Post Doctoral Fellowship at University of Lund. In 1981, they were married in Stockholm, and shortly thereafter, they relocated to Chicago for Dale's work. Soom thereafter, she completed nursing school to begin what would be a 30+ year nursing career, and she a became mom.
Yftu will be remembered for giving great advice, her directness, her humor, and her deep empathy for the suffering and pain of others. However, she always carried an optimism about the world becoming a more open-minded, intellectually curious, and compassionate place.
She will be remembered as a loving grandmother, mother, wife, sister, and friend to many. She also loved her pets dearly.
The family is planning on a Celebration of Yftu's Life at a later date; Please continue to check back for details.
Yftu will be laid to rest with her late husband Dale at Naperville Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks you make a donation to one of the following organizations: International Rescue Committee Chicago Coalition for the Homeless Foster Progress
In 2015, Yftu appeared on her daughter's radio show and gave an in-depth retelling of her fascinating life. You can listen by clicking here.