Catherine Diana McKewin

Catherine "Diana" McKewin, nee Hart, 87, at peace with Christ May 4, 2025 in Chicago. Beloved wife of the late Eugene “Gene”. Loving mother of Michael (Betsy) and Kevin (Annette). Cherished grandmother of Kelly, Shannon (fiancé Trot LaFrance) and Eric. Sister in-law of Barbara Hart. Dear daughter of the late Bridget nee Loughran and Michael Hart. Dear sister of the late Joan O’Brien, James, Peter (Alta) and John Hart. Fond aunt and great aunt of many.

Her parents emigrated to Chicago’s Austin neighborhood from County Armagh, Northern Ireland in 1932. Diana was born on April 14, 1938 at St. Anne’s hospital. She attended St. Catherine of Sienna Grammar School (Class of 1952) and Trinity High School (Class of 1956).

Growing up, she was particularly close to her younger brother John. Neighbors nicknamed them “Mickey and Minnie,” as they played together in the neighborhood, never one without the other by their side.

As a teenager, Diana was passionate about training dogs, including her beloved Mitzi and Queenie. She showed dogs at events on occasion and once had a photo of Mitzi jumping over hurdles published in the Chicago Tribune.

After high school, Diana attended classes at a business college in Oak Park and worked at Sears Roebuck & Co’s west side office. She was once offered a job at an Illinois government office but turned it down when they requested she hide the fact that she only had one arm. She refused to be ashamed of or hide her disability from anyone, that remained something she held true to for her entire lifetime.

Diana spent her young adult years adventuring with her childhood friend Anne Wilson (later Stern) including a road trip to New York where they spent a night in a prison cell on a kind invitation from a police officer when no hotel rooms were available.

On a warm Friday evening in the fall of 1961, Diana and Anne went to Club Hello, a country western bar in Logan Square, where she met her husband-to-be Gene who had stopped in for a cold one on his way home from work. Diana and Anne had a pact to never give their phone numbers to men when they went out, a pact she broke on the dance floor with Gene. Their first official date was at a Blackhawks game watching Bobby Hull on the ice. When her mom visited Ireland for a month in 1962, Gene would come to her home to make dinner for her and her father, which quickly won her heart. They married on October 2, 1965 and remained lovingly married for 43 years, until Gene’s passing in 2008.

Diana and Gene moved to the Mayfair neighborhood on Chicago’s northwest side in 1969, where she stayed home to raise their sons Michael (b. 1966) and Kevin (b. 1970). She made many friends on Lowell Avenue and was a longtime parishioner at St. Edward Catholic parish.

Diana returned to work in 1978 and began working in the Plumbers Local 130 office in 1981. Plumbers from all over the city knew her friendly smile at the window. She enjoyed a 30 year career in the office, meeting many wonderful friends, including her dear friend Pat Pruneda who visited her weekly until her final day.

Diana loved to travel, whether it was a family road trip to Wisconsin or Michigan or her annual trip with Anne and sister Joan to Las Vegas where her nickname, “the one-armed bandit,” was very fitting at the nickel slot machines she loved to pull.

Her trip of a lifetime came in 1998, when she visited her parents’ homeland of Ireland with her son Mike, sister Joan and Anne. She toured the Emerald Isle for 10 days, including Northern Ireland where she met her Irish cousins, visited the church where her parents were married, and even slept in the bedroom where her mother was born.

In her free time, Diana volunteered for many years with the Special Religious Education (SPRED) program at St. Edward, where she worked with developmentally disabled children to prepare for the sacraments.

She enjoyed going to garage sales and thrift shops and spending time at the pool with friends in the summer, and weekend visits with her sister-in-law Barb. Diana became sober in 1975 and her sobriety remained a very important part of her life for 50 years, supporting many on her sobriety journey and making many lifelong friends as a result.

Diana loved her grandchildren, who in turn remember her fondly for countless childhood sleepovers where they’d play “Horseopoly” and pretend to go camping in her basement, and for spending lots of time in her garden while she tended her flowers and rhubarb patch. Her famous pistachio cake recipe will live on for generations to come.

Memorial visitation Saturday June 7, 2025 11:00 a.m. until time of service 1:00 p.m. at  Colonial-Wojciechowski Funeral Home, Heneghan-Suerth Directors, 6250 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago. Interment private. In lieu of flowers memorials appreciated to a charity of your choice in Diana's name. Information 773-774-0366 or Heneghanfs.com 

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