To all the Lombardos and my dear friend Marty - your mom was a wonderful lady and always so welcoming. Our sincere condolences to all of you during this tough time. She and your Dad raised a great family that will always make her proud. Love Mike, Claire, Dani and James Novello

A dear friend My heartfelt condolences

Lydia was a dear friend and I will miss her. We formed an immediate bond and continued our friendship after she moved to assisted living. I admired the determination which enabled her to overcome her parents objections and earn a college education with the encouragement of her husband while raising a large family. With sincere sympathy. Diane

Great memories of having band practice in the Lombardo basement... 42 years later still performing with Marty... I remember your mom always being so warm and friendly and of course always offering us food, like all Italians do. She will be missed, my deepest sympathy to the whole Lombardo family, my though and prayers are with you!

A wonderful, loving woman who was an inspiration to all! Love you Aunt Lydia. May you rest peacefully with Uncle Vince, Nani, Grandpa & my Dad.

Lydia Catherine Gallucci Lombardo was loving and smart, with an insatiable thirst for learning and life. She was our mom, grandma and great-grandmother, or Noonie. She was love. Our roots. She was loved for fifty years by her husband, Vincent, who also preceded her. And she will always be remembered by her seven children; Michael (Rita), Martin (Michele), Jeanne (William), Linda, Vincent (Vicki), Christopher (Tammy) and Lydia (Cory), her thirteen grandchildren; Lauren (Lee), Ashley, Vincent, Danielle (Andrew), Brin, Krista, David, Ryan, Cara, Rachael, Alyssa, Levi, Sophia, and her two great grandchildren; Leighton and Lee, Jr.. Lydia Gallucci grew up the daughter of Pietro and Virginia Gallucci and beloved sister of Lou. Her parents, who were both Italian immigrants, learned to read English by phonetically by sounding out the Chicago tribune. But Lydia they insisted, would learn the American way. So, she went to St. Mary’s in Des Plaines, and then to St. Pats, the school where the best girls in the Chicago suburbs went. There she met friends who would remain with her throughout her life. Joanne, Rita, and all the rest. Over sixty years later, they have loved and cared for each other. Lydia was driven, swift, and smart; at her parents urging, like most women of her day, she learned secretarial skills. And donned white gloves. And took jobs in the big city of Chicago. Yet, like all well-mannered girls, she also returned by train every night to Des Plaines, Illinois, where her parents lived. It’s on those train tracks that she met our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, and her life was changed. She had known Vince Lombardo growing up. But at five years older; she was just a child and he a man. But a few years later, as it often does, time, fate and biology lent a hand. Vince saw her, now a young woman, coming off that train. And he began to meet her. night after night, until she was his. That is how Lydia Catherine Gallucci became Lydia Lombardo. Mom and Dad, from the beginning, were in sync: they wanted a large family. Each with only one sibling, they weren’t kidding around. There are seven of us. All raised and loved with their values. Lydia is our matriarch. Our mom, grandma, great grandma and “Noonie”, and each of us is who we are because of her love. And her courage. And this is where Lydia’s story gets interesting. Because she is not only the spirit of our family, but also a scholar, an intellect and the bravest mom we know. At 41 she went to college, got her Bachelor’s degree, and set her path on elevating her place in the world. In short, don’t challenge her to a test of history, theology, Scrabble or word games: she’d trounce you every time. A published and gifted writer, she had the foresight to write her memoirs for all of us, which are posted here (post link once done). At the end of all of our lives, because we are human, our questions are common. Did we matter? Was there a purpose for why we were here? For Lydia Catherine Gallucci Lombardo, the answer is resoundingly, “yes!” We are all changed because of her. We love as we do, because of how she loved. Lydia loved the ending of the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus: “Look around you,” they said. “There is not a life in this room that you have not touched, and each of us is a better person because of you. We are your symphony. We are the melodies and notes of your opus. We are the music of your life.” So, rest easy, Mom, Grandma, and Noonie. You live on. The symphony of your life continues.