U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014
Esel Baskin
Esel Baskin, 64, of Matteson, died Aug. 24, 2008. He was an employee of Norfolk Southern Railroad.
Arrangements are by Robey Park Manor Funeral Home, (708) 756-2310.
Mildred Bruder
Mildred Bruder, 66, of Matteson, died Aug. 26, 2008. She was a cashier.
Arrangements are by Hirsch Funeral Home, (708) 748-8031.
Matthew C. Rybski
Matthew C. Rybski, 87, of Chicago's West Lawn community, died Aug. 26, 2008.
He was a retired manager for Sears. Arrangements are by Zarzycki Manor Chapels, (773) 767-2166.
Margaret Stege
Margaret Stege, 90, of Matteson, died Aug. 28, 2008. She was a machine operator.
Arrangements are by Hirsch Funeral Home, (708) 748-8031.
Beverly M. Studnicka
Beverly M. Studnicka (nee Paukovitz), 62, of Midlothian, died Aug. 25, 2008. She was a homemaker.
Arrangements are by Becvar & Son Funeral Home, (708) 824-9000.
Kevin Duckworth
Kevin Jerome Duckworth was sometimes more a teddy bear than the grizzly bear his 7-foot, 300-pound frame would suggest.
If that left him shy of Division I basketball offers during his days as a Thornridge High School star in the early 1980s, it left no shortage of stunned mourners Tuesday, when most learned of the two-time NBA All-Star's death Monday, Aug. 25, 2008 at age 44.
"Kevin was so good-natured and kind," former Thornridge athletic director Ron Bonfiglio said.
"He was a good student and good citizen. He was a great athlete for a boy his size. But he wasn't recruited much. He was really nice, not a mean kid.
But he just kept getting better and better. This is a tragedy."
Mr. Duckworth died in Kernville, Ore., where he was as part of a group of Portland Trail Blazers hosting a free kids basketball clinic, Oregon's Fox 12 television reported on its Web site.
According to OregonLive.com, a spokesman for the Depoe Bay Fire Department said the agency responded to a report about 10 p.m. (PDT) of an unconscious man at Salishan Lodge. Paramedics worked on Mr. Duckworth for 30 minutes, but he never regained consciousness.
He appeared to have gone into cardiac arrest, fire officials said.
He was pronounced dead at 10:23 p.m.
"Today is an extremely sad day for the Trail Blazers family," Trail Blazers president Larry Miller said in a press release.
"Kevin will be remembered by fans as one of the most popular and recognizable players to ever wear the Blazers uniform, but to people who knew him, (he) will be remembered as one of the warmest and biggest-hearted."
Mr. Duckworth, who helped Portland to Western Conference titles in 1990 and '92, was employed as a Heritage Ambassador for the Trail Blazers.
He played 12 seasons in the NBA, averaging 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game.
After being drafted with the sixth pick in the second round by the San Antonio Spurs in 1986, Mr. Duckworth was traded later that year to Portland for Walter Berry.
He was named the league's Most Improved Player in 1988, when he averaged 15.8 points and 7.4 rebounds.
The Blazers promptly signed Mr. Duckworth to an eight-year, $16 million contract.
One of Mr. Duckworth's first deeds was to purchase a new home for his mother, Maxine, in South Holland.
"I told my mom before I even got in the league, 'If I ever get some money, I'm buying you a house.' That was one of my goals," Mr. Duckworth said in a story published in the Portland Oregonian in 1991.
"Once I got established and I was fortunate enough to have some things happen to me, I could do it."
In 1989, he was named an All-Star, averaging 18.1 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
Mr. Duckworth earned All-Star status again in 1991, posting numbers of 15.8 points and 6.6 rebounds.
The Trail Blazers traded him to Washington in 1993, where his production declined until he retired in 1997 as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers.
"Kevin never forgot where he came from," said Bonfiglio, who retired from Thornridge in 1995. "He came back to Thornridge many times. He provided the school with a lot of positive attention."
Mr. Duckworth garnered all-area honors at Thornridge.
With his older brother Raymond, also 7 feet and 300 pounds, at his side, Thornridge was a heavy favorite to advance downstate in 1981.
But a Mendel Catholic team, coached by Mike Flaherty, upended the Falcons.
Four years later, Flaherty would become head coach of Thornridge where he would enjoy a 20-year career.
"I remember when we got beat in the playoffs by Mendel," Bonfiglio said.
"I still remember the score, 58-53. I said to myself, 'How did we get beat with two 7-footers?' That had to be some good coaching, and that's what introduced me to Mike Flaherty. We hired him a few years later."
After leading Thornridge to a 17-6 mark his senior year, Mr. Duckworth went on to Eastern Illinois University, where he eventually would earn Mid-Continent Conference Play of the Year honors.
He remains the program's all-time leading rebounder (867) and sits sixth on its career scoring list (1,589).
He was inducted into the Panthers Hall of Fame in 1993.
"Shocking," former Eastern Illinois coach Rick Samuels said.
"Kevin was a guy who I think most people who knew him loved him. Certainly the Eastern contacts did. I'll have a family who will be greatly saddened. As I recall, Kevin obviously was one of my first really good players, a guy who I think helped legitimize our program's transition to Division I."
Mr. Duckworth is survived by his mother and sister.
Information on services was not immediately forthcoming.
Linda M. Jarosky
Sept. 11, 1915 - Aug. 18, 2008
For years, Linda Jarosky was the friendly face greeting customers at Glenwood Oaks Restaurant, one of the best-known and most popular restaurants in the south suburbs.
Mrs. Jarosky, the mother of the restaurant's owners, served as hostess for several years, welcoming patrons for lunch or dinner and to celebrate weddings, birthdays and other milestones in the banquet rooms.
"This is what the restaurant is all about," said her son Terry Jarosky.
"Putting our extended family together with other families and getting involved in their celebrations and their mournings."
Mrs. Jarosky, 92, died Monday, August 18, 2008 with her family at her side in the Thornton home of her daughter, Phyllis LeRose.
Her memorial gathering will be from 2 to 9 p.m. today at the restaurant, 106 N. Main St., Glenwood.
The restaurant was founded in 1974 by Terry Jarosky and his late brother John.
"My mom was our support and the confidence behind us," Jarosky said.
"She met a lot of the customers at the front door as the hostess.
She did that exclusively for the first five years.
She introduced us to the people she met and made friends with."
She knew her customers and their likes.
Frequently, they might get a little extra gift as they left for the night.
A Roman Catholic chaplain who mentioned he especially liked the pickles got a package of them to go, Jarosky said.
"If there was leftover bread on the table, she would package it up and hand it to the customers so they could have it for their toast in the morning," he said.
A child of the Depression, Mrs. Jarosky remembered when there was no bread on the table in the morning. Born in Chicago on Sept. 11, 1915, she was sent back to her parents' native Italy when she was young for schooling.
"When she came back here as a girl, she came through Ellis Island and was processed as an immigrant," said another son, Jeff Jarosky.
"She was 12 years old. It was during the Depression, and she ended up raising a family.
Her older sister was out of the house at a very early age and got married.
My mother had to quit school and manage the household duties."
Mrs. Jarosky finally got her diploma at Fenger High School in the 1960s, he said, and enjoyed reading and learning and especially liked to write "inspirational things."
"She wrote a little about herself," Jeff said.
"But she didn't like to look back at those hard times.
She had been through the Depression and had painful memories.
"When times were rough, she would devote time to people she thought had it worse than we did," her son said.
"She would spend whatever money she could get together to take a south suburban bus to Oak Forest to do charity work at Oak Forest Hospital, where she was caring for people who lived there - some were veterans from the war."
Before opening the Glenwood restaurant, the family took over the popular Isabelle's Restaurant in Thornton in 1972.
Mrs. Jarosky and her son Jeff lived in an apartment on the second floor there, and she worked downstairs.
"She worked until she was in her 80s," Jeff said.
"She didn't really retire until about 2003."
Besides her daughter and two sons, Mrs. Jarosky is survived by 11 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren, sisters Dorothy Locke and Diane Wild and a brother, Louis Panozzo.
Mass will be said at 10 a.m. Friday at St. John Church, 301 S. Cottage Grove Ave., Glenwood.
