Barbara Caruso

Barbara Anne Caruso, nee Heckler, age 84, of LaGrange Park. Beloved wife of the late Peter C. Caruso; adoring mother of John (Karen Okura) Caruso and Gina (Keith Lord) Caruso; sister of Dr. Victor (Eileen Kamerick) Heckler; aunt of Mark (Kathy) Heckler and Connor Heckler; great aunt of Caroline Heckler and Kevin Heckler.

Born February 14, 1940, Barbara was the beautiful Valentine baby of her parents Frank and Sophie Heckler and lived in the family two-flat on LeMoyne St. in Chicago’s Humboldt Park neighborhood. Two years later, her brother Victor was born, and along with their Auntie Anne and grandmother, the whole family enjoyed years of family time all living in the two-flat.

Barbara was a proud alumnus of Providence St. Mel School in Humboldt Park. She then worked as an executive secretary and enjoyed the 1960’s “Mad Men” lifestyle, getting dressed to the nine’s to go to work and to go out.

One night, she met Peter Caruso, who famously said to Barbara that same night, “I am going to marry you.” And indeed, they did, on a beautiful autumn day on October 31, 1964. After honeymooning in Jamaica, they settled down in a huge flat on Adams St. in Chicago’s Austin community. Mom’s dream of being married and having children was coming true, and their son John was born September 17, 1965. While Peter worked at being an accomplished and respected union electrician, Barbara and John enjoyed several years of fun and treasured times together.

Fulfilling her dream of having a boy and a girl, Gina arrived September 12, 1969. The family was now complete and ready to move into their home in LaGrange Park. In the early 1970’s Barbara began to explore her passion for food and cooking. She watched Julia Child’s cooking show, “The French Chef”, and began collecting cookbooks, which grew into a 2,000+ collection in Gina’s former bedroom, which transformed into her vast cookbook library.

Barbara was passionately curious about cooking, studying technique, sourcing the most esoteric, obscure and correct ingredients, and amassing a cookware collection that rivaled any Williams Sonoma store.

Needless to say, Peter and the children were well fed! It was commonplace for Gina and John to come home from school to the smell of fresh baked bread. Barbara’s cooking skills expanded over the next 50 years, spanning every international cuisine, while French and Italian cuisine remained her go-to dishes for Sunday dinners and gatherings.

The highlight of her cooking career was spending a day cooking at Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago. She was tasked with making macarons in the strict French style. Having years of self-taught training of precision baking, measuring out flour, weighing out cookie dough, she fit right in. The staff was beyond impressed with her absolute consistency in size, shape and form in each macaron. Every other task they gave Barbara she excelled. At the end of the day, the staff surprised her with a beautiful place setting and a multi-course meal of the food both she and the team created that day. Barbara was with her people, in her element. Barbara was the ultimate epicurean and loved precision, detail, beauty, delicious tastes, and sharing these delights with others.

Barbara made legendary and memorable meals. She took much pleasure in researching recipes to curate her menus and would write them in her beautiful cursive handwriting on yellow legal pads and tape them to her kitchen cabinet, her dashboard that kept the meal symphony playing. Barbara would source ingredients pre-Amazon style through many local stores and mail-order direct from distributors. She amassed the most beautiful collection of platters and serving pieces, many of which were themed for seafood, foul, Mediterranean, Cajun and other cuisines. She was known to say, “well of course you need seven different sives” and after she explained why, you believed her.

In the 1990’s Gina began to host Dia de los Muertos and Mardi Gras parties. Barbara didn’t just cook for these parties, she researched the authentic ingredients and dishes of each culture, sourcing Tasso and red beans from Louisiana for her famous Gumbo. Over 25 years worth of Mardi Gras and Dia de los Muertos parties ensued, each year bringing back the traditional foods Barbara and Gina prepared for these parties, creating a longstanding tradition for friends and family, many of which met at these parties and became dear friends.

Barbara was incredibly intelligent, both with facts and feelings. She was incessantly curious, constantly learning random facts about animals, countries, words and everything in between. She was a huge Jeopardy fan and often did the New York Times news quiz with her brother Victor. You could always rely on Barbara to share a fun fact about virtually anything.

And Barbara was one of the most emotionally intelligent people you could know, understanding nuanced feelings people have and possessing an unmatched self-awareness of her own feelings and emotions. It’s no surprise that many of John and Gina’s friends considered Barbara their second mother (the really good food and cooking tips also helped!).

So much of knowing Barbara was through her family, food, and close friends. These were her passion, her love, and her creative outlets in life and brought her the most joy.

For Barbara’s 80th birthday, Gina asked Barbara’s nearest and dearest to share one word about Barbara to create a “Barbara in a Word” collage. Some of the many words people chose included: vivacious, classy, brilliant, caring, gorgeous, grace, culinarian, joyous, and love.

Also for Barbara’s 80th, Gina asked Barbara to compose a quote that sums up her life philosophy:

“Life has brought with it joyful happiness, tearful sorrow, everything in between, and the unwavering support of cherished loved ones throughout it all.”

– Barbara Caruso

Barbara died suddenly at age 84 of a heart incident, leaving so many of her beloved wanting more time with her, more stories, more random facts, more recounting of her favorite meals, more Barbara-cooked meals, more family memories, more silly jokes, tears, hugs and laughter. In a word, wanting more of Barbara’s love.

What a gift Barbara Caruso was to her family and her friends. She’s inspired kindness, lovingness, wisdom, caring, refinement, and excellence in so many that knew her. Though our world no longer has Barbara in it, her ripple effect will be felt for eternity, and she will live in our hearts forever.

Memorial Visitation, Wednesday October 23, 2024, from 4 P.M. to time of Service 7 P.M. which will conclude at approx. 7:45pm at Hitzeman Funeral Home and Cremation Services, 9445 31st Street, Brookfield.

Interment Private.

Memorials appreciated to your favorite charity.

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 31st Street, Brookfield, IL 60513, c/o Barbara Caruso Family. We will gladly forward it on to the family.