Emma M. Gross

Emma Margaret Gross (née Bartlett), 100, passed away peacefully at P. A. Peterson at the Citadel in Rockford, Illinois, on February 25, 2025. She was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Arthur and Margaret (nee Kuenzel) Bartlett on October 22, 1924. She grew up in Villa Park, Illinois. Emma was an athletic child, and was often seen doing cartwheels all the way down the block. As a teen, she learned to skate while helping her mother clean the local skating rink, the Rollercade, in the wee hours of the morning. She also had the opportunity to sing the national anthem on multiple occasions at the rink. She graduated from York Community High School in 1942 in Elmhurst. She went on to work at the Federal Reserve Bank in Chicago, where, after the war, she met her future husband, Arthur H. Gross. They were married on June 25, 1949. She and Art first lived in Chicago, and later, the suburbs of Northlake and Lombard, before moving to Rockford in 1964, where she has resided ever since. Emma was a gifted soprano, taking voice lessons at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. She performed many concerts in the Chicago area in her younger years, and even made a record! She was a valued member of the Classic Chorale, and also sang with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra Chorale and the Mendelssohn Chorale, as well as many Catholic Church choirs, including St. Bernadette, Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Mary Oratory, St. James, and St. Edward. Well into her 90’s, she occasionally sang a solo at St. Patrick Church. She was well known as “The Ave Maria Lady.” Emma’s love of music can be summed up by this statement she made years ago: “I’ve always been surrounded by music in my life and hope to be surrounded still when I enter my heavenly life.” Now she sings with the angels.

She was an excellent seamstress, making all of her own clothes, and many Barbie outfits for her two girls. She loved to paint and we often joked that she must have been born with a paintbrush in her hand. In fact, she was on the ladder painting a ceiling when she had labor pains with her first child. She also enjoyed any kind of crafts, from making greeting cards to ceramics; and volunteering at East High School Library. She worked outside of her home as a housekeeper, securing her first cleaning job so her eldest daughter could attend Boylan High School. But her favorite roles by far were wife, mother, and homemaker.

Our family wishes to thank the caring staff at P.A. Peterson at the Citadel and Transitions Care Hospice for their kindness.

Survivors include her daughter, Cecelia (Mark) Dahlgren; niece Cathy (Phil) Douglas; Leslie Dahlgren Johnsen; and special friends, Mary Lou Voorhies and George Borys; Jim Reece; her singing partner Sverre Vinge; Linda Mitchell; and Barb Heineman. She is predeceased by her husband Art; her dear daughter Margie; her parents; brothers Art, Roy, and Malvin; sister-in-law Catherine (Walter) Doyle; nephew John Doyle; Bud and Helen Dahlgren; aunts and uncles; and special friends Bess (Steve) Zaletanski; Mary Kay Russell; Jim Baker; and Father Lorenzo Gonzalez. Private inurnment will be with her husband at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Puowaina Punchbowl Crater in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Arrangements entrusted to Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory, 1860 S. Mulford Rd., Rockford, IL 61108. Share online condolences and memories at www.fitzgeraldfh.com