Renée E. Contento
Renée Elizabeth Modla, born to Bernice (née Walenga) and John Modla, grew up in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood and attended Gage Park High School. She lived a life of service which began at age nine teaching younger children to read.
Married for over 20 years to Louis M. Contento, she spent those years raising a family and donating her time to her Evergreen Park community. She was active in Most Holy Redeemer Church's Altar & Rosary Society and sang in the choir. She volunteered as a Girl Scout Leader for over 15 years, guiding Brownies, Girls Scouts and Cadets. She shared her joy of gardening with neighborhood children, encouraging them as budding gardeners with her backyard classes. For 25 years she volunteered for the Illinois USO at Midway Airport, where she also served as an airport ambassador.
While hosting adult students as part of the American Language Academy she taught English to students from Bulgaria, China, Korea, Thailand, and Venezuela. She also served as president of the American Association of Handwriting Analysts, an international organization of which she was a member for over 60 years. Renée was Executive Assistant to the Press Secretary for the Cook County State’s Attorney Office until her retirement.
From the time she was in high school working on her school's newspaper, Renée appeared in many newspaper & magazine articles, and on TV & radio, as well. She was a creative woman of many talents who designed & sewed Halloween costumes for the whole family, danced and sang in several musicals presented by Most Holy Redeemer parish, and enjoyed jitterbug dancing, too. She enjoyed many arts &crafts, including cake decorating, gingerbread houses and Easter eggs made of sugar.
As matriarch of the family, Renée kept alive the Easter and Christmas traditions of her Polish & Slovak heritage, and also honored the Italian St. Joseph's Day with traditional homemade cream puffs. She made a family tree chart to preserve her family's history through genealogy, and her family reunion brought distant relatives together again.
She loved travel and learning about other cultures. Although she enjoyed visiting many countries including the Bahamas, Bermuda, China, Germany, Israel, Japan, Korea, Mexico and Switzerland, for Renée there was always no place like home.
She will be remembered by her children, Katherine Contento, Elise Contento, Lurene Contento (David
Thomas), Leila (Terry) Younger and Louis John Contento; her grandchildren, Alicia, Henry, Daniel, and
Sam; her great-granddaughter Colette; and numerous cousins, nieces, and nephews.
Visitation Saturday, November 26, at Thompson & Kuenster Funeral Home, 5570 W. 95th St. in Oak
Lawn from 9:30 am until the time of Prayers at 10:45 am.
Funeral Mass follows at Most Holy Redeemer Church, 9525 S. Lawndale in Evergreen Park at 11.30 am.
Interment private.
For those unable to attend the Funeral Mass in person, live-streaming (remote viewing) is available through the following link: