Henrietta Kolata

Henrietta Kolata (102) peacefully passed into God’s embrace on November 8, 2025, attended by her daughter at her home.  She was born on Good Friday, March 30, 1923, the only child of Camiel and Julia (Lippens) Sandrie, Belgian immigrants from nearby Ghent. She attended McKinley School and graduated from Kewanee High School in 1941.

On June 23, 1945, she married Henry Kolata in Alexandria, LA, just before he set off for Italy in WWII. When he returned, they joined the Kolata family on Vine Street where they remained until their deaths. They had two children, Judith and Robert.  Henry preceded her in death on Oct 15, 2007 and Robert on Sept 11, 1999. 

Henrietta was baptized in St Joseph’s Church but was a member of St Stanislaus Church (later St Francis Parish) throughout most of her life. She attended daily mass there for decades until the church was closed in 2013.  She worked at the Boss factory and at Coca Cola during WWII, then devoted her time to her family. When the children had grown, she worked at the desk for Novak’s Cleaners. Henrietta lived a full life as a devoted wife, loving mother and grandmother, and active homemaker.

An only child, she happily joined the Kolata clan and found great joy in cooking and baking for her extended family and in helping others, whatever their needs. (She was known as the Brownie Lady to many who enjoyed her treats.) She and Henry also cared for many pets, especially Pumpkin, their chow, and a long line of cats and dogs who came in and out of their lives. One three-legged kitten, Penny, was scooped up by Henry from the Walworth floor when they were shuttering the factory after his 42 years of working there.

Later in life Henrietta enjoyed reading, scrabble, old movies, bingo games, card playing, and going to the casinos with friends; her skill and luck in cards continued with caregivers until shortly before her death.  For years she organized bus trips to local casinos with her friend Fran Pickett to benefit Friends of the (Northeast Park) Pool and the Windmont Park Lighting Committee. She was also a member of the Flemish American Club, one of whose founders was her uncle Maurice Lippens.  She enjoyed travel with family over the years, most memorably to Kaua’i in 2015 when she was 92. More recently she enjoyed attending operas and symphony concerts with her daughter in Chicago.

She is survived by her daughter, Judith; her daughter-in-law, Alice Horrie; her grandchildren, Angela (Kolata) Cernovich and Patrick Kolata; and her great-grandchildren, Camden, Gavin, Chloe, and Beau Henry.

A rosary will be said at 2:30 pm on Friday, December 5, 2025, at the Golnick-Schueneman Funeral Home, followed by visitation till 4. A memorial mass will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, December 6, 2025, at St. John Paul II Parish. Memorials may be made to the Henry County Senior Citizens, the Henry County Humane Society-Kewanee Chapter, the Kewanee Public Library, or the Flemish-American Club for the windmill sign renovation. Online condolences for Henrietta’s family may be left at www.golnickschuenemanfh.com.

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