Alice Cecile Page (Wunderle)

Alice Cecile Page (née Wunderle) lived a long, interesting, adventurous life. Alice was born in Detroit on February 4, 1924 to Alice Cecile Tschaegle, the only US citizen of her French family, and Albert Wunderle, a waiter originally from Germany. In June 1925, when Alice was 15 months old, her mom took her to live with her grandparents in Alsace, France. Her mother later returned for her and took her back to the US in October of 1928 on the SS De Grasse. Alice then grew up in Chicago. Her parents died within 6 months of each other in 1941 when Alice was 17. She moved into a girl’s boarding house on Lake Shore Drive and graduated from Waller High School (now Lincoln Park HS) in January of 1942. It was only in her later years that she admitted to regularly cutting class to go see live shows at the Chicago Theater, instigated, of course, by her friend Betty. She said the only reason she graduated was because the school did not want to deal with her anymore. Sometime that year, she and a friend decided to knock on an apartment door they often passed on Bellevue Avenue that had a sign with a picture of a pin-up model and the caption “Knock If you look like this”. They did and Alice met William “Bill” Page, a young Jazz musician from Hartwell, GA, and his roommate and fellow musician from Hartwell, Don Basinger. Alice and Bill were married on July 30, 1942 and Bill soon went into the military to serve in WWII. While Bill was in the Army, Alice spent some time down in Hartwell living with his family. When peace was declared in Europe in 1945, Bill was stationed in Paris and received permission to travel to Alsace to meet Alice’s family. He arrived at her family’s home in Wiler the same day as her cousin Ernest returned from being held in a German prison camp. After the war, Alice and Bill started their family and settled in the Morgan Park/Beverly neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago. During these early years, they learned to cook together since neither knew how when they got married. They had three boys William “Bruce”, Thomas “Tom” and Robert “Bob”. Laura followed fortuitously fourteen years later after an anniversary trip to NYC gifted to them by Bill’s brother George. All were grateful that Alice and Bill did not give in to Bruce’s plea to be an only child. Alice and Bill befriended two brothers who had emigrated from China, Hans and Charles Kung, who, along with their family, became best friends to the Page family. For many years, The Kung’s would come over to the Page house for Thanksgiving and the Page family would go to the Kung’s on Christmas day. In 1968, Bill got an opportunity to manage the Wurlitzer store in Kansas City, MO, and in January 1969 the family moved to KC (except Bruce who was living happily in Florida after attending the University of Florida on a swimming scholarship). Though this relocation only lasted 2 years, the whole family fell in love with KC and Tom and Bob would later move back to KC for good. Back in Chicago in 1970, Alice began a variety of jobs that would culminate in her retiring as a Trust Officer at Beverly Bank in the early 1990’s. While at the bank she made many friends whom she kept in touch with until she passed. It was a great achievement for a woman with a high school education (and a history of cutting classes). In 1980, Bill suffered from Parkinson’s disease at a time when there were very few treatments for it, and it cost him his job and his healthcare coverage. Alice and Laura took great care of Bill until he passed in 1989. Alice was a strong independent woman who managed Bill’s care while working at the bank to support the family. An example of her independent character was her capability to drive her own car until she was well into her 90’s. In the 1990’s, Alice moved to a beautiful home in Tinley Park, IL that she shared with her cousin Anatole “Buster” Ehrhart. She made many good friends there. Alice enjoyed traveling. She was able to visit France with Bill and Laura, before Bill became ill, where she reconnected with her family roots. And so began her interest in genealogy, researching her family tree and visiting relatives and family sites in Ohio and Europe. In Alice’s later years, she also accompanied Laura’s family on their travels, most recently traveling to Italy at the age of 88 with them and Rick’s dad Roger. She even wintered in Florida close to her son Bruce for several years. Alice was very proud of her 4 kids who all graduated from college. She had 6 grandkids and one thing they all have in common is that they adored her and loved to visit her. She was feisty and fun and passed on her independent spirit and outspoken nature to her grandkids. Mom adored her 5 great grandchildren and was happy to know #6 was on the way. After Laura’s marriage to Rick Becker, Alice was adopted by the Becker’s; they loved her like their own and made her feel welcomed and special. Alice had many interests. She had an artistic talent for working with fabric. She won an award at the Illinois State Fair for her macramé, but her passion was quilting. She made many lovely quilts that she treasured, as does her family. She had a green thumb and took great care of her many plants. They moved with her wherever she went. She collected teddy bears, particularly Steiff Bears, and greatly appreciated her granddaughter Abby who helped her dust them off at least once each year. Alice was a member of Good Shepard Lutheran Church in Palos Heights, IL and earlier served in the Altar Guild at the Episcopal Church of the Mediator on the south side of Chicago. Mom also loved her pets. She always had a number of beloved cats and dogs throughout her life and at the time of her death had a cat, Gracie, a rescue that she adopted from a local shelter. Alice and Bill had always talked about retiring to KC. In December 2019, Mom moved to Independence, MO, a suburb of KC, to be near her son and daughter-in-law, Bob and Debbie and their children and granddaughter. Coincidentally, the Chiefs won the Superbowl after she moved down, just like they won their previous Superbowl when Alice moved the first time to KC. Thanks Mom! In June, her heart began to fail and she passed peacefully at Bob and Debbie’s house on July 26th, surrounded by her loving family. Alice is survived by her son Bruce and his wife Susan of Bradenton, FL, and their children Kristin (husband Bill) and Kevin (wife Lauren); son Tom and his wife Kathy of Shell Knob, MO; son Bob and his wife Debbie of Independence, MO and their children Tyler and Sam (fiancé Rachael); and daughter Laura and her husband Rick of Chicago, IL, and their children Brooks and Abigail; and five great-grandchildren, Aubrey, Emmy, Madeline, Amelia, and Harper. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Bill, and a child who was stillborn. Due to the current circumstances, Alice will be honored during a family only visitation in Independence, MO and a burial with a short service at Evergreen Cemetery in Evergreen Park, IL. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to your local no kill animal shelter or animal rescue, causes dear to Alice. Online condolences may be expressed to the family at www.speakschapel.com (Arrangements: Speaks Suburban Chapel (816) 373-3600)