LF_031419

LakeForestLeader.com LIFE & ARTS
the lake forest leader | March 14, 2019 | 21
LB’s The Sheridan brings friends of 95 years together
Neil Milbert
Freelance Reporter
Mary Kozina remembers
the day she met Evelyn
Vonic outside Holy
Rosary grammar school in
North Chicago.
“She was standing next
to the building, and I was
standing next to the building
and then we started
to talk. We just became
friends. Every time there
was a party or something
we would both be there,”
Kozina said.
The close friendship
that developed between
those two 6-year-old
grammar school girls has
continued for 95 years.
And now Mary and Evelyn
find themselves living
down the hall from
one another at The Sheridan
at Green Oaks in Lake
Bluff, and they wouldn’t
want it any other way.
“We always lived close
to each other,” Vonic said.
“I went to Waukegan High
School and Mary went to
one of those schools that
taught how to type and
those (secretarial) things,
but we stayed friends.”
Evelyn’s 101st birthday
was on Feb. 27, while
Mary will turn 101 on
June 29.
On the afternoon of
March 5, a birthday party
at The Sheridan at Green
Oaks honored the two of
them.
“That was exciting,”
Kozina said. “They had
a great big party. A lot of
people were here. Some
of them came from faraway
places.”
It also was the second
anniversary of the opening
of The Sheridan at
Green Oaks and the oneyear
anniversary of the
opening of the Freedom
Home Care Wellness Center
branch at the facility.
“Not only are we here
to celebrate their birthdays,
but their 95 years
of beautiful friendship,”
said Vonic’s daughter,
Judy Kosick, who came
for the party. “My mother
and Mary are very happy
and we are thankful they
have the opportunity to be
together at this establishment
where they can take
part in many of the activities
they once did together
when they were younger.”
According to Kozina,
when they were teenagers
she and Vonic “were separated
for a while.”
“Evelyn had a boyfriend
who played bat and ball
and they were in a group,”
she explained. “There was
a church group that had
things for young people
and I was doing things
with them.
“Later on we both got
married and got back together.
We both lived in
North Chicago and we
used to talk on the phone
all the time. We started
doing a lot together, grocery
shopping and going
to places where we could
get a lot of yarn and fabric.
I used to sew a lot and
Evelyn would paint big
pictures. When it was my
birthday she’d take me out
to dinner and when it was
her birthday I’d do the
same. Later on when she
and her husband traveled
overseas she’s always
bring me back something.
She’s such a sweetie.
“Evelyn had two children,
Judy and Louise,
and I was Louise’s godmother.”
Kozina also is the mother
of two, a son, Dr. Gustav
Kozina, who practices
dentistry, and a daughter,
Sue.
Starting in 1981 and
continuing through the
mid-1990s, Vonic and her
Evelyn Vonic (left) and Mary Kozina pose for a photo
in 1991. The duo has been friends for 95 years and
now lives at The Sheridan at Green Oaks in Lake Bluff.
PHOTO SUBMITTED
late husband, Larry, spent
the winter months at their
second home in Brooksville,
Fla.
“They invited my late
husband, Gus, and I to
come visit them and we
stayed at their place a
few times,” Kozina reminisced.
“They lived next
to a golf course.”
Vonic said during her
younger days she enjoyed
golfing and line dancing.
“She was a marvelous
dancer, so good with her
THE SPRING
feet,” interjected Kozina
“I was not. She tried to
teach me line dancing. No
way—I couldn’t do it.”
Prior to moving to The
Sheridan at Green Oaks
Please see Sheridan, 22
AREA RUG SALE
Lowest Prices of the Season Now Through June 4th
SAVE UP TO 50% ONSELECT AREA RUGS
NOW THROUGH MARCH 31 ST
1840 Skokie Boulevard
Northbrook, IL60062
847.835.2400
www.lewisfloorandhome.com
Rug Featured Nourison’s Silk
Shadows Collection in Sterling