Oct. 10--When Barb Rezutko visited the graves of her parents at All Saints Catholic Cemetery in Des Plaines on Wednesday, she left a little Cubs flag to wave between the two headstones, a symbol of eternal support for their beloved team.
And perhaps a token of good luck from the other side during the playoffs.
"I'm hoping for some angel power," said Rezutko, 64, of Northbrook.
She laments that die-hard fans Bill and Jean Skelly aren't alive to witness the Cubs' recent success, particularly her father, who faithfully watched every game even as his vision faded in the last few years of his life. She said the World War II veteran slept under a Cubs blanket at his nursing home until he died at 91 on Sept. 26, 2012.
Her Cubs flag was one of several dotting the grave sites at All Saints this week, a fusion of professional sports and the afterlife that's fairly common there and at other cemeteries, particularly when teams are victorious.
A Cubs win often draws more fans to the All Saints grave of famed announcer Harry Caray, and many paying their respects leave pennies at his headstone, said Hilda Carrillo, a service representative at the cemetery. A Stanley Cup victory typically brings a spike in Blackhawks flags and memorabilia decorating the grounds of Irving Park Cemetery, said family services counselor Abbie Hultquist.
Yet next-of-kin say that during this postseason there's a little more emotion behind their grave site trinkets, which mark hope for the championship these late loved ones longed for but couldn't experience in life.
"(Dad) was always hoping they'd win the World Series in his lifetime, but it never happened," Rezutko said.
A crisp blue Cubs flag adorns the All Saints grave of Patrick O'Toole, who died of colon cancer at 69 on Dec. 31, 2014.
His kids and brother say they aren't sure who placed the flag there -- everyone in the gregarious former salesman's family and circle of friends knew how much he loved the Cubbies.
"It was Chicago sports and pride," said his daughter, Georgeann Pawlowski, 49, of Mundelein. "He's been faithful, loyal."
His brother Jack O'Toole, 68, now of Cincinnati, remembers going to Wrigley Field as kids, when they'd take the train from their Ravenswood Manor neighborhood home and get into the game for about 60 cents for unreserved bleacher seats. Then they'd collect seat cushions from the stands, their labor earning them a free ticket the next day, he said.
"Of course, those guys never won," Jack O'Toole said. "But it was a great way to spend the summer."
Son Kevin O'Toole, 45, of the Edison Park neighborhood, was about 10 years old when he saw his father jump on a stadium seat trying to catch a foul ball, his beer teetering precariously on the armrest. The dad grabbed for his beer and just barely missed the ball, a choice he rued for years because he wanted to give the baseball to his kids. And he wasn't able to catch his drink either.
"He lost out on the beer and the ball," Kevin O'Toole said, laughing.
Shortly before Patrick O'Toole's death, his niece recorded a conversation with him. In a soft and raspy voice, he predicted a great Cubs season this year.
"In general, when times were bad, that's what he would focus on -- sports and baseball," Kevin O'Toole said. "I do think it helped him to focus on something else."
He said a twinge of sadness accompanies the most exciting games -- like pitcher Jake Arrieta's complete-game shutout Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates -- because his dad isn't there to share the celebration.
"I tear up thinking about it sometimes," he said.
As for Rezutko, she said she imagines her mom and dad cheering on the Cubs in heaven, alongside Caray and Cardinal Francis George, also buried at All Saints.
She wants to keep her flag at the cemetery until the end of the postseason.
"When the Cubs win the World Series," she said.
eleventis@tribpub.com
