Mary Ellen Salcich (1932 – 2017)

Mary Ellen passed August 27, 2017 at Franciscan Health, Dyer, surrounded by family and loved ones.

Mary Ellen was born February 1, 1932 in Hammond, IN and lived nearly her whole life in the Whiting, IN area.  She was a graduate of George Rogers Clark High School and married Paul Salcich in 1951, her true love, who passed in 2009.

She was a career woman and started as a clerk in the office of the Woodmar Country Club and worked her way up to Office Manager.  She then did a complete career change at age 36 and took an entry level position at the Indiana State Employment Agency in Hammond IN.  During the next 28 she continued to advance and at age 64 was the Manager over the entire Northwest Indiana quadrant.

At 64 she suffered a major disabling stroke that left her crippled, speechless and with only one good arm but she fought fiercely to keep her independence.  After her husband passed she spent the last 8 years with extremely limited outside assistance.  She was an amazingly tough lady.

Mary Ellen was a huge fan of all Chicago sports teams especially her Cubbies and of course the Hoosier basketball teams.

She is survived by her son, Dan (Nancy) Salcich of The Woodlands, TX; sisters, Barbara (nee Blasko) Waaso of Monee, IL and Audrey Henry of Westville,IN; 3 grandchildren, Andrew, Zachary and Elizabeth Salcich who all reside in the Houston, TX area.

 She was preceded by her father Andrew Blasko (1998), mother Ellen (nee Bochniak) Blasko (2000), husband Paul Salcich (2009), grandchild Joshua Salcich (2012) and her sister Loretta Timko (2017). 

Funeral services will be held Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 10:00 am at Fife Funeral Home, 4201 Indianapolis Blvd., East Chicago, IN with Rev.Stephen Kosinski officiating. Burial to follow at St. John – St. Joseph Catholic Cemetery, Hammond IN. Visitation at FIFE FUNERAL HOME will be from 2:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 8:00 pm on Friday, September 8, 2017.  Flowers will be accepted or donations to the Hurricane Harvey relief fund would be appreciated. To share a memory or send a permanent online condolence, logon to www.fifefuneralhome.com

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