Mary Ellen "Ditty" Reck

Mary Ellen “Ditty” Reck, age 105, née Daniel, born in Kansas  City, Missouri on March 9, 1921. She was the daughter of the late Marion Alphonsus Daniel and Ruth Evans Daniel and the widow of Richard August Reck after a marriage of 67 years.  She lived in Hinsdale over 65 years and a member of Union Church that long.   She is survived by her son Richard Alan (the late Susan) Reck, grandsons Daniel Marshall (Rebecca) Reck and Alan Charles (Hanyu) Reck, great grandson Akio Hu Reck, and many Toomey nieces and nephews related to her late sister Madeline Toomey (Melvin). 

Mary Ellen was graduated from Hyde Park High School, Chicago, and received her B.S. in Education from Southern Illinois Normal University.  She taught at Whittier School in Blue Island for two years and 25 years in Chicago Public Schools with 22½ years at Michael Byrne School in Chicago.

She was a member of Woman’s Club of Hinsdale, Sigma Kappa, Delta Kappa Gamma, Pi Kappa Sigma former national officer, Indian Prairie Computer Club, Indian Prairie Genealogy Club, AAUW and several other groups. 

Although her family has been the most important thing in her life, she has had many interests in her lifetime and an abundance of curiosity studying Mandarin Chinese, calligraphy, and painting Chinese water colors for ten years.  Her hobbies have been knitting, crocheting, gardening, painting, genealogy, computers, bridge, writing, photography, and traveling worldwide to six continents.

A funeral service will be held on Friday, April 10, 2026 at 10:30am at Union Church of Hinsdale, 137 S Garfield St, Hinsdale, IL 60521. Internment will be at Bronswood Cemetery in Oak Brook with her parents, husband, and daughter Pamela Lee Reck.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a gift to Sound Curiosity at soundcuriosity.org/give in support of the music and STEM education programs she inspired.

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