Meridel A. Wesely, nee Berola, 79, of Hinsdale, passed away May 10, 2024.
Meridel was born in 1944, in Sewickley, Penn., to John and Mary Berola. She was a descendant of Italian immigrants, some of whom had arrived in the country via Ellis Island in the early 1900s.
After graduating as valedictorian of Moon Township High School, Meridel attended Bucknell University, where she majored in education, sang in the choir and was a sister in Alpha Chi Omega sorority. She earned her master's from the University of Wisconsin Madison in educational psychology.
She met her husband, Marv Wesely, in a dining hall at the University of Wisconsin, by intentionally leaving her ID face-up on her lunch tray so that he could see her name. They married in 1968, then moved to Aberdeen, Md., where their first daughter was born. In 1973, they moved to Hinsdale, where their second daughter made them a family of four. Meridel lived in Hinsdale for the rest of her life, watching it transform and grow over the next 50 years.
Meridel worked in Community Consolidated District 181 for 32 years as a school psychologist and coordinator of special education. She served and cared for district children and families, particularly the students with severe disabilities. She was a gifted administrator and she made cherished friends during that time. In later years, she wrote and performed parody tribute songs for district retirees. When she retired in 2006, she wrote her own song and performed it while accompanying herself on the ukulele.
Meridel was a loving, supportive and generous mother to her two daughters. As the years progressed, Meridel's family grew, adding two sons-in-law and two grandchildren. Her deep affection for her daughters extended easily to include newer members of the family.
When Marv passed away in 2003 at the age of 58, Meridel chose to live bravely and joyously with her grief, and she worked to carve a path forward.
After her retirement, she found new friendship and companionship; she sang, she danced, she traveled, she played golf, she walked and she enjoyed every minute of it.
She was an expert line dancing instructor and flash mob participant who attracted everyone's eye as she boogied energetically and gracefully around the dance floor.
Meridel joined in almost any adventure with her family, walking miles through Disney World and around Paris. Meridel's grandchildren were delighted by the fact that they could reference any popular song from the last century and she would immediately start to sing it, usually with dance moves. She was a sleeper agent when playing board or card games, often feigning indifference or confusion until she swept in and won it all.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Marvin L. Wesely.
She is survived by her daughters, Jennifer K. (Kevin Ingwersen) Wesely and Pamela M. (Matthew Arnold) Wesely; her grandchildren, Fiona and Malcolm Arnold; her sisters, Barbara (Robert) Swan and Carol Cercone; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation is from 3 to 8 p.m. Thursday, May 16, at Sullivan Funeral Home, 60 S. Grant St., Hinsdale.
Family and friends will meet at 10 a.m. Friday, May 17, for a funeral Mass at St. Isaac Jogues Church, 306 W. Fourth St., Hinsdale.
Interment is at Bronswood Cemetery in Oak Brook.
