Sammy Gay Vavroch, 72, of Sycamore, Ill., formerly of Cape Girardeau, died Monday, May 27, 2013, at her home.

She was born Dec. 11, 1940, in Cape Girardeau, daughter of Elmer and Isabelle Brooks Palsgrove. She and Allan Jerome LaClair were married Aug. 15, 1962. On May 8, 1998, she married her dear husband, James David Vavroch.

Sammy attended Southeast Missouri State University. She currently was teaching in the education department at NIU in DeKalb, Ill.

Survivors include her husband, James of Sycamore; five children, Rob (Melanie) LaClair of Montana, Christopher (Suzanne) LaClair of California, Mary Beth (Brian Reis) LaClair of St. Charles, Mo., Kevin (Jennifer) Vavroch of Wisconsin and Stephanie (Mark) Kaiser of Iowa; five grandchildren, Margo, Jasper and Eden LaClair and Joshua and Kayden Vavroch; a brother, Michael (Eileen) Palsgrove of Crystal Lake, Ill.; and a sister, Mary Anne Farrow of Missouri.

A memorial Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Church of St. Catherine, 340 S. Stott, Genoa, Ill. Burial will be in Sycamore.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to DeKalb County Hospice in care of Butala Funeral Home and Crematory, 1405 DeKalb Ave., Sycamore, IL 60178.

For info or to sign the online guest book, go to ButalaFuneralHomes.com.