Mary Diane Prinzhorn, nee Miller

  Mary Diane Prinzhorn, nee Miller joined her eternal partner Fred on November 24, 2023.  A loving wife, mother, and friend, she was an avid birdwatcher, expert seamstress, dedicated homemaker, and regular member of Ascension Lutheran Church in Riverside, the La Grange Park YMCA, and Morton Arboretum.

Born in a log cabin adjacent to the Tolt River in Carnation, Washington on January 2^nd, 1934, she was later raised in Ellensburg, Washington before joining the United States Navy in 1952 as a Seaman Apprentice.  She met Frederick (Fred) William Prinzhorn in Norfolk, Virginia at the Naval Astronaut Training Center. Later they married and, upon military discharge, moved to Chicago, Fred’s hometown.

The family resided in North Riverside for over 60 years starting in 1960 when Cermak Road was still a two-lane gravel roadway.  Establishing a home-based seamstress business, she was able to work from home while still caring for her three children while Fred worked for Illinois Tool Works.  After the children had grown and charted their own paths, she worked in a local medical office for Dr. Bartizal.

She is survived by her two remaining brothers John (Jack) Miller and Homer (Pinky) Miller, two sons David Stephen Prinzhorn and Michael Donald Prinzhorn, son-in law James Zabel, granddaughter Breanna Stephanie Prinzhorn, two great-grandsons Jake Tristan Prinzhorn and Alex Christian Prinzhorn, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, and cherished friends.

Family that she will be reuniting with include her beloved daughter Karen Louise Zabel, infant sons Kenneth Harold Prinzhorn and Michael Fred Prinzhorn; siblings Donald Eugene Miller, David Seymour Miller, Michael Dennis Miller, and Lula Geraldine Wood (Miller) and her dear mother Margarete Lucille Miller (Micklam).

She will reside beside Fred at the IOOF Cemetery in Ellensburg whereupon they will resume their glorious adventures together.

Visitation, Tuesday, November 28, 2023 from 3:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M. at Hitzeman Funeral Home Ltd. 9445 W. 31^st Street, Brookfield, IL 60513.

Interment IOOF Cemetery Ellensburg, Washington

Information 708-485-2000 or www.HitzemanFuneral.com

For those of you that would like to express your condolences to the family, please click on the link below and you can leave the family a message. If you wish to send a Sympathy Card to the Family, please feel free to send it to Hitzeman Funeral Home, 9445 West 31st Street, Brookfield, IL 60513, c/o the Mary Diane Prinzhorn Family. We will gladly forward it on to the family.