Page created by: Erika Munz and Elisabeth Cannizzaro

It is with sadness that the family of Elisabeth Munz announce her passing on December 23, 2024 at the age of 91. Elisabeth battled Parkinson's for many years. Many years prior to her diagnosis, she cared for her now deceased husband, Fritz, who also battled the same disease. There are no answers for why both had the disease.

Elisabeth was no stranger to adversity. At the age of nine, she and her family escaped from former Yugoslavia during WWII and fled to Austria, finally finding refuge in a Displaced Persons Camp in Linz. The camp organized many social gatherings and events for the young adult refugees, where she met life-long friends and her future husband Friedrich Munz. In 1956 at the age of 23, she and her husband, along with their two year old daughter Betty, immigrated to the United States settling in Chicago, Illinois. Six and a half years later they welcomed a second daughter, Erika, into their family. Being young immigrants in Chicago wasn't easy. She and her husband became US citizens, and worked extremely hard to create a better life for their children; paying for college educations for both daughters, one in Nursing and one in Special Education. Elisabeth valued education, teaching herself how to read and write in English as well as speak it fluently. She constantly strove to improve herself, as well as various family members, always reading about nutrition, etc. so she could provide healthier meals and lives for her children.

In 1996, just a couple of years after Elisabeth and Fritz finally retired to a small suburb of Chicago, Fritz was diagnosed with Parkinson's and then a few years later he had to battle cancer. Elisabeth cared tirelessly for him through both diseases until he passed from Cancer in 2007. She often said she was most proud of the way she loved and cared for Fritz at home in this time of their lives; having refused to place him in a nursing care facility. For the past 5 years since her Parkinson's diagnosis, her daughter Elisabeth (Betty) cared and advocated for her in the best way possible.

Elisabeth is survived by her daughters Erika and Betty, her two sons-in-law Larry and Justin, and her 3 grandchildren Lauren, Kurt, and Skyler, of whom she was extremely proud.