Sharon Orton – MEMBER SINCE 12-07-17 By Carol Hollenbeck, Web Manager
Born Sharon Ann Faviszak in Chicago’s St. Joseph’s Hospital. Her father was a truck driver, delivering laundry
and later furniture for Marshall Fields. Her mother worked as a night auditor so she could be with her children during the day. Until the age of eight, Sharon grew up in a section of Chicago named Bucktown. Her mother had seven brothers and sisters and her father had one brother. She was raised in a large extended Polish family, who shared great times together. Her paternal grandfather came to America in 1904 at the age four from Poland. That grandfather acquiredthree apartment buildings in Chicago. Sharon and her brother Robert Phillip and sister Carol Lynn lived with her parents in one of those buildings. She remembers “shoveling coal into the furnace to help keep residents warm.”
By 7th and 8th Grade her parents sent her to a Catholic school called Our Lady Help of Christians. She also attended an all-girls Catholic High School named Notre Dame for Girls.It took her two city bus rides across town to reach her High School each day. By age 18 her family had moved to a new home in the Arlington Heights suburb of Chicago. Sharon has held two jobs for 35 years. One of those jobs was waitressing at a fancy Greek Restaurant in Chicago called Northfield. While employed there she waited on “some NFL players and other famous people.” She said that she enjoyed working there.
Due to her Polish upbringing Sharon has mastered many special recipes such as her Stuffed Cabbage Rolls, Beet soup, Kiszka(Blood sausage), Polish sausage, Potato Pancakes, Polish Rye Bread and Paczkis (a Bismark type pastry.) Of course, the Kolaches, filled with strawberry, apricot, raspberry, prune and poppy seed were made from scratch, “always with lots of butter.” They are “much thinner than what you will find in a grocery store bakery.” Arthritis in her hands keeps her from doing as much with the rolling pin as she used to, so Perogies from scratch and other recipes have been cut back.
Sharon raised two daughters, one of whom (Sabrina), currently lives in a suburb of Chicago.Her other daughter, Sheryl † is deceased and Sharon has adopted her two daughters. In 2001 Sharon was hired by ConAgra in Chicagoand had occasion to visit the Omaha/Council Bluffs area on business, so she was familiar with the two cities. ConAgra was relocating to Omaha and Sharon had a good position there as a freight claims specialist. So, in 2005 she chose to move here to make a good life for her two adopted granddaughters, Stephanie (age 5) and Ashley
(1 ½ years old.) Altogether she has 7 grandchildren and one great granddaughter, Cali, who is in Kindergarten here in town.
Since her move to our area Sharon has been a member of St. Patrick’s, Holy Family and now attends the Our Lady of Carter Lake site. She sings soprano in the choirs and is a Cantor at times. She is a Eucharistic Minister and she just completed two terms (3 years each) on the Corpus Christi Parish Board. She used to make Rosaries with the Corpus Christi Rosary makers. Another hobby is crocheting and sewing. She spent “a lot of years decorating ice skating costumes for Stephanie and taking her to practices and performances.”
Sharon has volunteered at Birthright, two or three Saturdays a month since 2009. She feels a special call to reach out to young mothers because she has “two grandchildren that were given up at birth.” She gives them options, lists of agencies that can help and of course diapers and baby clothes. She enjoys helping the community at Birthright.
Sharon has helped with Bingo at Our Lady of Carter Lake Site for three years. Bingo is called there on the second Saturday of the month, from 5:30-9:15pm. Last month they had 58 people attending, bringing in a profit from the game and the raffle baskets. There is a pot that rises monthly until someone manages to blank out a Bingo card with the currenttotal of numbers called (that also goes up each month, until won.) Sharon suggested that our CDA Court might “consider donating a raffle basket for this Corpus Christi Parish fundraiser.”
Sharon is currently serving as the Financial Secretary of our Court St. Anthony #330. She was asked to join our group by Past Regent Angie Shea, when she was at St. Patrick’s and later at Our Lady of Carter Lake. She joined because she “wanted to be a part of this largest group of Catholic women in America” and “wanted to do things for good with women of the same background.” Sharon is also glad that we are “working and praying with The Blessed Virgin Mary.” When Sharon was installed as a member, exactly a year ago, she also accepted an officer position. I believe I was the one who BUGGED her about being an officer right away.
She says she still likes me though! (Whew!) Thanks so much for all you do for us Sharon, we appreciate you!
“Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer.”Romans 12:12