Lucinda 'Cindy' S Pataki

Lucinda S. Cindy' Pataki, 62, of Westville, after a brave battle with a neurologic disorder and end stage renal disease, was called to heaven to be with God and join family and friends at 1:05am, Thursday, April 25, 2013, at Iroquois Hospital, Watseka, IL. She was born on November 10, 1950 to John and Betty {Potter} Pataki and began her life dedicating herself to helping others. She is survived by: her sister, Ellen Peck; her nephew, Ryan Peck; her niece, Erin Peck, all of Georgetown; her Aunt, Eva Davis of Danville; several cousins and close friends. She loved her family with all of her heart. She graduated Westville High School and attended Danville Junior College. She began working at age 16 for Latoz Hardware and PN Hirsch in Westville. The majority of her career, she was employed at Interstate Printing & Publishing, then after spinal surgery, was employed by JoAnn Fabrics and ran a craft shop, selling hand-made items for the majority of her career. She was elected twice to be a civic leader beginning as a council member and then as the first female mayor of Westville. When her parents became ill, she chose to provide the care they needed to remain living at their home. As a young woman, she was a Girl Scout, who traveled to Mexico to work with under-privileged children. She then went on to organize and become a Girl Scout Leader with a troop of her own in Westville. In 1976, she and a friend, Debbie Serpinas, established the Santa's Anonymous Program for her community after discussing what to buy each other for Christmas. They contacted the School nurse and asked for the name of family they could help provide with a nice Christmas. They were informed that there were many and decided to take all the names and thus started the program. With help from the Police & Fire Departments and donations from local businesses and community, the program has been delivering clothes and toys in Westville for 37 years. Cindy was the driving force and was committed to its' success every year. In her spare time, Cindy enjoyed sewing, painting, silk floral arrangements, and making soft sculpture dolls. She was extremely generous and always believed whatever she had was sufficient for her needs and gave whatever she could to someone in need. A celebration of Cindy's life will be at 10:00am, Monday, April 29, 2013, at Trinity United Church of Christ, 311 Moses, Westville, with Pastor Connie Tapp-Bandy officiating. Visitation will be 2-6pm, Sunday, April 28, 2013, at Sunset-Urbas Funeral Chapel, Westville. She will be laid to rest in Georgetown Cemetery.