Submitted by: Dan Rich
June 11, 1912 - Dec. 26, 2007
South Bend Tribune 12/29/2007
SOUTH BEND - Theresa Muszik Voorde, daughter, devoted wife
and loving mother died peacefully on Wednesday, Dec. 26, in Our
Lady of Peace Hospital, Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center,
South Bend. Theresa, 95, died as the result of complications
following a fall on Dec. 7th. Theresa's parents, Julius and
Frances (Retek) Muszik, immigrated from Hungary to
South Bend in the early 1900s. The second daughter, she was
always at her mother's side, learning housekeeping, cooking and
baking - skills that later earned Theresa the 1949 Pillsbury
Midwest Regional Bake-off Championship. Theresa attended Kaley
and Linden schools before graduating from South Bend Central High
('31).
It was there she met her lifelong love and
future husband, Edward F. "Babe" Voorde. They married
at St. Stephen's Catholic Church on November 6, 1937. God,
family, friends and politics were constants in Theresa's life.
She developed a lifelong love of sports, as a devoted wife to
Babe who served as assistant to Washington High football coach
Bernie Witucki and scouted for Notre Dame's Frank Leahy in the
early years of their marriage. For nearly six decades, she rarely
missed an Irish home football game, and cheered enthusiastically
for both ND and Indiana basketball. At the outset of World War
II, Theresa and Babe, their daughter Frances (1939) and son
Edward Jr. (1940) lived with Babe's parents on Ford Street,
helping with expenses and saving money. Theresa was pregnant with
a second daughter, Charlotte (1942), when they purchased their
first home, a beautiful white farmhouse on Prairie Avenue. John
was a victory baby in 1945, Chris followed in 1948, then Paul
(1949) and Theresa (1951). When the older children enrolled at
St. Patrick's, the family parish, the Voordes found a home at 132
South Chapin Street, walking distance to school and town. They
remained there well into the 70s. Theresa was a full-time member
of the team when her husband was elected mayor in 1955. Though
she continued to tend to the home-front first and foremost, she
fondly recalled how she and her husband nightly shared each day's
events at the kitchen table over coffee and baked goods. Widowed
at 48, with seven children, the oldest a senior at St. Mary's
College, the youngest only nine, Theresa suddenly found herself,
by necessity, working outside the home as well. She supported her
growing children in a number of jobs, retiring at 75 after 27
years in the St. Joseph County Voter Registration Office. With
her husband and children she had unique opportunities to meet
presidents, movie stars, even a Pope. With her children, she
traveled to visit her roots in Europe and across the United
States, but she was always ready to return home, to South Bend,
which she loved.
Theresa was preceded in death by her
parents; her brother, Julius; her sister, Helen Sieron;
and by her eldest daughter, Frances. She is survived by her
brother, Paul Muszik of South Bend; her sister, Frances Eckenrode
of Hummelstown, PA; and her surviving children, Edward,
Charlotte, John and Christine, all of South Bend, Paul Voorde of
Mishawaka and Theresa (Eric) Ellett of North Liberty; as
well as 10 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
Friends may call at Kaniewski Funeral Home
from 2 to 8 p.m. today, Dec. 30, with the Rosary at 4 p.m.
Friends may also visit for one hour preceding a concelebrated
Mass of Christian Burial at St. Patrick's Catholic Church at
10:30 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 31, which will be followed immediately
by burial at Cedar Grove Cemetery. Memorial contributions in
Theresa's honor may be made to Our Lady of Peace Hospital at
Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center, 811 E. LaSalle Ave., South
Bend, IN 46617; or to the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation,
P.O. Box 630342, Baltimore, MD 21263.