Petronilla Mary Volk
December 28, 1928 – October 15, 2024
Petronilla Mary Volk, age 95, passed away at 3:33 PM – Tuesday, October 15, 2024, at Stonebridge Memory Care in Effingham, Illinois.
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 10:00 AM – Monday, October 21, 2024, at Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Newton, Illinois, with Father Pawel Luczak celebrating mass. The burial will be in the Holy Cross Cemetery in Wendelin, Illinois. Visitation for family and friends will be held from 3:00 to 6:00 PM – Sunday, October 20, 2024, at the church. In loving memory of Petronilla, memorials may be made to the St. Thomas School or the Family Life Center. Arrangements are under the care of the Meyer Funeral Home in Newton, Illinois. The obituary can be viewed, and condolences left at www.meyerfh.com.
Petronilla Mary, also known as “Pat” or “Pet” to family and friends, was born on December 28, 1928, in Stringtown, Illinois, the daughter of Francis “Frank” and Gertrude (Kapper) Blank. She married Joseph J. Volk on May 6, 1947, at Saint Joseph Catholic Church in Olney, Illinois. He preceded her in death on May 29, 2005.
Pat and her husband owned and operated Volk’s Fertilizer in Wakefield, Illinois, for many years. She was devoted to her faith and was a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church in Wendelin, Illinois and later a member of Saint Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Newton Illinois. Pat was a loving wife and mother to their 11 children. She enjoyed gardening, sewing, and singing, sharing this gift with the choir and Kloepfen singers at Holy Cross Church.
Pat also loved the out-of-doors and shared her love of nature with her children and grandchildren, watching the birds at her feeders and identifying them and their songs, taking walks in the woods to identify leaves and to look for spring wildflowers, and hunting and gathering nuts in the fall. She was a great listener with a wonderfuland clever sense of humor and a gift of making everyone feel accepted and at ease.
Petronilla is survived by 95 living descendants. They include her children, Lee (Sue) Volk of Newton, Illinois; Trudi Volk of Carbondale, Illinois; Vicki (Mike) Stuckey of Olney, Illinois; Marge (Chuck) Horton of Newton, Illinois; Bill “Wicker” (Jude) Volk of Newton, Illinois; Sue (Cliff) Hess of Corpus Christi, Texas; Dee (Bob) Bower of Wheeler, Illinois; Roxanne Pitcher of Montrose, Illinois; Jeff (Laura) Volk of Newton, Illinois; and Vita (Brian) Reich of Newton, Illinois; along with 28 grandchildren, 55 great-grandchildren, and 2 great-great-grandchildren. Also surviving Pat are her sister, Matilda Hemrich of Newton, Illinois, her sister-in-law, Virginia Blank of Wendelin, Illinois, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Petronilla was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her son, Joseph Dean Volk, her grandson, Nick Volk, her sons-in-law, Brent Pitcher and Chris Kistner, her grandson-in-law, Kerry Brown, and her siblings, Frank Blank Jr., Cletus “Bud” Blank, Pauline Ochs, and Wilbert “Wib” Blank.
At the age of 88, Petronilla decided to move to the Villas of Hollybrook in Newton and lived there for five years. During that time, she received wonderful care and was very happy. She then moved to Stonebridge Memory Care in Effingham, where she spent the last three years of her life. Her caretakers at Stonebridge loved her and treated her with the greatest respect and admiration and concern. The family is grateful for the care and love she received at both facilities.
