Eileen McCulley

Eileen Marcella Bosch McCulley, 92, of Champaign died on February 28, 2020 at home in the company of family members.


The family will receive friends at the Owens Funeral Home (101 N. Elm St, Champaign) from 4 to 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4, 2020. The rosary will be recited at 3:30. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated by Msgr. Stanley Depula at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 5, 2020 at St. Matthew Catholic Church (1303 Lincolnshire, Champaign). Burial will follow the Mass at Roselawn Cemetery, Champaign. Family and friends are invited to attend a funeral luncheon at St. Matthew’s in Feeney Hall after the interment.


Mrs. McCulley, the second child of Edward Joseph and Isabelle Adelaide Best Bosch, was born October 30, 1927 at the family farm in Broadlands. She attended elementary school in Broadlands and graduated from Broadlands High School in 1945. Following graduation, she worked in the University of Illinois accounting office where she met her future husband Delbert E. McCulley, a World War II Army veteran and recent University of Illinois graduate. They married on June 16, 1951 at Immaculate Conception Church in Bongard. He died in 2013. They were married for 61 years.


Mrs. McCulley is survived by daughters, Pamela (Joseph Sr.) Rank, Urbana; Teresa (Mark) Lacerenza, Wilmington, OH; Dorothy Slavik, Champaign; Della (James) Runyan, Champaign; twelve grandchildren, William (Christie) Rank, Oak Forest, IL; Anthony (Jayme) Lacerenza, Hartville, OH; Joseph Jr. (Stephanie) Rank, Champaign; Christopher (Cara) Lacerenza, Hoover, AL; Robert (Lisa) Rank, Evergreen Park, IL; Stephanie Rank, Chicago, IL; Jason (Sarah) Lacerenza, Cincinnati, OH; Andrea Lacerenza, Wilmington, OH; Megan Slavik, Champaign; Kevin Runyan, Springfield; Scott Runyan, Champaign; Amanda Runyan, Champaign, and sixteen great-grandchildren.


Also surviving are her brothers and sisters, Edward (Marianna) Bosch, Longview; Tony (Mary Ellen) Bosch, Longview; Harold Bosch, Tuscola; Dorothy (Don) Happ, Philo; Monica Barham, Champaign; Carl (Marsha) Bosch, Georgetown; and Dennis (Regina) Bosch, Newman.


She was preceded in death by her parents, infant sister Rosemary, husband, son-in-law Emery Slavik, brother-in-law Ken Barham, and sister-in-law Nancy Bosch.


She retired from the University of Illinois in 1990 from the Department of Environmental Studies.


She was among the founding families of St. Matthew Catholic Church and was active in the St. Matthew School PTA and a dedicated volunteer in the parish office, at funeral luncheons and the annual parish garage sale. She was a devoted mother, grandmother and great-grandmother whose kitchen was the focal point for frequent family gatherings. For 57 years she never missed the annual Bosch Family Hot Dog Roast held at one of the family farms on the last Sunday of October at which, among other important milestones, her extended family celebrated her birthday.


In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions be made to St. Matthew Church or the charity of one’s choice.
 

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