- Date Of Birth: November 25, 1928
- Date Of Death: February 7, 2020
- State: Illinois
She was intelligent, sensitive, and exceptionally caring. She was self–reliant and generous. She was a devoted wife and loving mother. She had a confident and persistent need for doing things the right way. And she was a survivor.
With her loving daughter Ludmilla at her bedside, Prossa Schypko, 91, passed away peacefully at St Elizabeth Manor Friday evening, February 7, 2020. Daughter to Timothy and Natalia Kussmina, Prossa was born November 28, 1928 in Kriniki, Poland, a small town near the border of Belarus. At fourteen years old, while walking alone on a country road from her grand parent’s home in Belarus, she was taken by German soldiers and shipped by boxcar to the Dachau Concentration Camp near Munich, never to see or hear from her family again. From there she was placed into the German workforce, working in a Munich restaurant where she met a good-looking Ukrainian, Wassil Schypko.
Having survived the war together as displaced workers, they were married in 1946. First daughter Ludmilla was born in Munich in 1950 and the Schypko family subsequently immigrated to the United States. Their immigration journey eventually led them to the Chicago area, where daughter Helene was born. Later they raised their family in the Fox River Grove area. Prossa and Wassil became naturalized United States citizens in 1962. Prossa‘s role as mother was traditional, efficiently managing the household, and caring for and loving her husband, children, and grandchildren. Holiday family gatherings with Orthodox prayers were especially meaningful to Prossa, where family members relished her preparation of stuffed peppers, homemade spaetzle, sauerkraut, and handpicked mushrooms. She and Wassil moved to Janesville in 2001 to be near Ludmilla’s family.
Prossa was a member of St. Vladimir Russian Orthodox Church near Rock City, Illinois. While she was never able to reunite with her Belarus parents, siblings, or grandparents, she accepted their unknown fate with grace. As with many “survivors”, her family and her faith gave her comfort.
Surviving Prossa include daughter Ludmilla Beckenbaugh (Michael), grandchildren Jason Beckenbaugh (Megan and daughter Emma), Brennan Beckenbaugh, and Donald Lorenz (son of Helene). Preceding her in death was her husband Wassil in 2017, and her daughter Helene in 2018.
Brenny inherited his “sweetness” from Gramma Schypko!
Prossa’s family is grateful to the staff at St Elizabeth Manor and Marquardt Hospice for the compassionate care they provided Prossa. A special thank you to the Sisters at St Elizabeth for embracing Prossa as part of their community. She felt your love.
