Joan Gallagher Cholewa passed from the world on February 9, 2026. Born in 1929 in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania, to Dorothy Repko and John Gallagher, Joan’s life parallelled the amazing trajectory of her country, which she loved. Born into the depression era, a “navy brat” during the World Wars, she lived through more than nine decades in a dynamic, ever-changing America.
Joan was adventurous and independent. She traveled the world, raised five children, and worked into her eighties. At George Washington University at a time few women went to college, she earned a degree in Marketing and was active in her sorority, Kappa Delta.
An adventurer, she embraced the opportunity to move to Germany as part of her work for the U.S. government. While there, she traveled throughout Europe, often on her own. In 1958, in a beer tent in Munich, she met the man she would share her life with, a Polish-American GI, Joseph Cholewa. The two eloped to Switzerland. Eventually, they settled in Chicago and together built a business. They later moved to Glenview with their five children.
Joan loved to sing and play the piano. She was a gifted crocheter and created dozens of beautiful afghans over the course of her life. She celebrated the little things. On St. Patrick’s Day, she wore the green. The kids got horns and sparkly hats on New Year’s Eve. She raised her kids on Broadway music and she danced in the living room to Tom Jones. Stone Harbor, New Jersey, was one of her “happy places” and she would load her brood into her beloved station wagons and haul them to the shore every summer where her parents would join them. She was as much of a road warrior in a wood panel-sided station wagon with five kids as she was an adventurer traveling Europe.
It cannot go without saying, Joan had style. She adapted fashion to her own sensibilities and could stop a clock as she made her entrances in her high-heeled mules, shoulder-length earrings, and one of her many fabulous hats.
Joan was committed to her church and was a member of the Women’s Club at St. Catherine Laboure in Glenview. In the 1980s, Joan was named Woman of the Year by Church Women United, a group where women of different faiths came together to do good works.
She lost Joe, her husband of 63 years in 2022. She spent her last years living with her youngest daughter, Robin Rutkowski, who was at her side as she slipped from us and this world.
Joan is survived by her children, Dannie Mulcrone (Ed Mulcrone) , Joe Cholewa, Jr. (Margie Cholewa), Kate Cholewa, Holly Wittel (Mark Wittel), and Robin Rutkowski, thirteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Visitation will be held at Cappetta’s West Suburban Funeral Home, 4920 Main Street, Downers Grove from 4 pm – 8 pm on Friday, February 13 2026. Funeral Mass will be held at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church 4801 Main Street, Downers Grove Saturday February 14, 2026 at 10:30 am. A luncheon will follow.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) or Catholic Charities.