Mary Helen Zelkovich Domijan

Mary Helen Zelkovich Domijan was born to Peter and Mary Zelkovich in Chicago during the Depression. She was gifted with a breath-taking inner and outer beauty. Her parents had emigrated from what is now the country of Croatia. Mary Helen treasured her Croatian roots.

She was baptized at St. Jerome Catholic Church at 29th and Princeton and celebrated many an August 15th and Lenten bakalar dinner there, dancing kolos to tamburitza bands. Her parents owned a restaurant/tavern at 64th and Wentworth. Mary Helen and her three siblings grew up on the second floor of their parents' two flat on Garfield Boulevard. No matter where she lived, Mary Helen was a Chicago gal, a proud South Sider in her heart and soul.

She fondly remembered the tightly knit community on "the Boulevard," and how that boulevard, the alleys, gangways, and viaduct, were her playground. She loved Lake Michigan, swam the breakwater, and knew the museums, parks, and libraries like the back of her hand. Saturdays were spent with hundreds of other kids at the Southshore or Halfield Movie Theaters.

During WWII her parents sponsored and housed a steady stream of refugees in the flat on Garfield Boulevard. Mary Helen reveled in the people who came through her home and helped both adults and children learn English. She particularly enjoyed sitting around the dining room table engaging in heady discussions with the new arrivals, who included doctors, lawyers, and an opera singer, whom she accompanied on the piano so he could vocalize, to the delight of the neighbors.

For the rest of her life, Mary Helen's attitude was, "the more the merrier." Her homes were always open and filled with love, laughter, food and music. Mary Helen graduated from Visitation Grammar School and High School. She excelled in music, dance, language, and literature. She was a phenomenal pianist and often played the organ in the Visitation Church choir loft.

Mary Helen attended Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa on a music scholarship and transferred to Marquette University. She was married to Peter Meegan from 1957 to 1985. In the early 1960s Mary Helen's parents moved to Lake County, Illinois to start a new liquor store/tavern called Pete and Mary's, a family oriented business. Mary Helen tended bar weekdays, and regulars included her beloved WWII vets.

Mary Helen loved children. In addition to her own four, she often had nieces, nephews, and friends staying with her for days or weeks at a time. She was a fabulous party planner, and hosted epic 4th of July parties that went on for days. She was an unflappable host. Mary Helen had an elegance and an artist's aesthetic that was evident in whatever she turned her hand to: fashion, cooking, baking, gardening, drawing, painting, sewing, and fine needlework.

A woman with no pretensions, she was light-hearted, funny, easy to laughter, and irreverent. Mary Helen married Hubie Domijan in 1986, and together they built Hubie's stone masonry business. They were active, involved, and adoring grandparents to all her grandchildren and their friends. In 2000, she and her daughter opened Seaganka, a boutique in Wicker Park that became a magnet for creatives, LGBTQ, immigrants, and spiritual seekers.

After 20 years in Oak Park, Mary Helen spent the last two years of her life in Denver enjoying the mountains. Mary Helen adored traveling. She was a free spirit with a strong sense of justice and fairness. She was a champion of the elderly and underdogs.

Mary Helen strongly supported women's rights and the environment. She was authentic, generous, and had a unique gift of being able to connect with the humanity in each person she met. Mary Helen was a magnificent mother to her children, Mary Meegan (Michael Casey), Pete Meegan (Peggy), Maureen Meegan (Will Sarni), and Sean Meegan (the late Christine), adoring grandmother to Audrey Kenyon (Jake), Daniel Meegan (Rachel Johnson), Jack Casey, Tommy Casey, Tim Casey, Seana Meegan, the late Seamus Meegan, James Sarni (Valerie), Thomas Sarni (Noelia Batiz), and Charles Sarni, proud great-grandmother to Melvin Meegan and Harrison Sarni, loving devoted sister to the late Pete Zelkovich (the late Teresa) and his son Jerome, the late John Zelkovich (Kathy more a sister than in-law) and their son Bill, and her adored little sister Theresa (Ronnie) Rederer.

Mary Helen was a loving and fun aunt to her beloved host of Meegan nieces and nephews. She was a loyal and cherished friend to so many. Memorial contributions can be made to the water resource education program Project WET.


FOTO: Private