Christina Lee

Christina (Coglianese) Lee passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 9, 2024. Beloved wife of Young Lee. Loving mother of Jayme (Elijah), Jack (Natalie), and Lucy. Beloved daughter of Anthony and Janice (Letizia) Coglianese. Granddaughter of the late Joseph & Livia (Moauro) Coglianese. Granddaughter of Lorraine (Jahntz) and late Charles Letizia. Daughter-in-law of Nam Lee. Fond grandmother of Leilani Bright (daughter of Jayme and Elijah). Dear sister of Don (Katharine) Coglianese, Cari (Constantino “Tino”) Boccarsi, and David (Jennifer) Coglianese. Dear sister-in-law of Young M. Lee and Young K. Lee. Fond niece, aunt, cousin, friend, and teacher of many.

Christina went to Sacred  Heart School in Melrose Park through second grade, and when her parents moved to Westchester, she attended  grade school at Divine Providence School, graduated from Immaculate Heart of Mary High School and continued her education at Triton College for two years and finished with a Journalism Degree at Colombia College.

At the age of 12 she worked at a farm stand where she removed bushels of corn from the trucks for the fruit stand. She did this for a few summers, but then became allergic to the silk of the corn and continued working babysitting for many families, and waitressing in many different restaurants to save for her college education. During her college years, she practiced her editing skills for Street Wise Newspaper. After graduating, she worked for the Cigar Smoker, editing their magazine.

Later she became a teacher part time at two different Catholic Schools but ended up working at St Odilo in Berwyn for over 25 years. She was on many committees for years helping with the Student Council, Parent Teacher Co-Operative (PTC), Yearbook, Fund-Raising Events, Photography, and a Recycling Committee, which she started and organized to get extra money for the school. She taught and continued all these activities until it was no longer possible for her. She was diagnosed with Stage 4 Melanoma Cancer which spread throughout her entire body and metastasized to her brain. Chrissy went to different hospitals for her cancer treatment: Loyola Hospital, Mayo Clinic, and Northwestern Hospital. She went through three years of immunotherapy, chemo, radiation, and extensive surgeries!

 When those failed her, she chose to do experimental trials knowing that she had less than a 2% chance that these would work, but Chrissy was a fighter, and also did it for research for other cancer victims. She never once complained or asked, “Why Me?”  Her faith carried her through these difficult times.

She has been married to her loving husband, a Police Sergeant, and former Marine for the past seventeen years.

Her lifetime love of softball, from grade school through her young adult years, was passed down to her children, which she became their biggest fan by attending all their games.

She was the “hostess with the mostest” coordinating all the family parties with much detailed décor for all occasions.

She touched the lives of everyone who knew her.

Family and Friends are to gather for the Memorial Visitation Sunday, July 14, 2024 from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., at Russo’s Hillside Chapels, 4500 Roosevelt Road, Hillside, Illinois 60162 (Located between Mannheim and Wolf Road.) Monday July 15, 2024, FAMILY AND FRIENDS ARE TO MEET DIRECTLY AT Divine Providence Catholic Church, 2600 Mayfair Avenue, Westchester, Illinois 60154 by 9:45 a.m. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated promptly at 10:00 a.m. Inurnment Queen of Heaven Cemetery, Hillside,IL. For additional information please call (708) 449-5300. Please omit sending flowers.

It is Chrissy’s wish for this to be a Celebration of Life. She requested that friends and family dress casually and comfortably, avoiding the color black.