Adele L Mackanos

Adele Louise Mackanos, age 82,of Merrillville, passed away peacefully November 30, 2022. A life long resident of Northwest Indiana, she was a graduate of Emerson High School. She married Robert Mackanos, they raised 3 loving children, which she called the greatest accomplishment of her life. She was also a grandmother to 3 grandchildren and 5 great grand children. A true beauty thoughout her entire life, at the age of 10 she worked at the Seaman Modeling Agency. At age 11 she wrote to important people across the globe, ambassadors, the newly crowned Queen of England, and other dignitaries. Her letter from the Queen warranted an official response on Royal stationary from one the Queen’s Ladies in Waiting. Adele said she credited her teachers and mentors for fostering her writing skills. She was an avid pen pal writing to and maintaining her friendships with children in England, Finland and Japan. In 1977 she decided to pursue her childhood dream of being a writer and a journalist, taking classes at Valparaiso University, she continued her education in journalism. She won numerous awards and scholarships. She garnered awards from The National Federation of Press Women and The Women’s Press Club of Indiana. She worked both as a reporter and staff writer at Northwest Indiana papers; The Hobart Gazette, The Vidette Messenger, and at the Merrillville Herald. In 1987 she managed six weekly and two bi-weekly newspapers with Thompson Newspapers, Inc. Journalistically, Adele was a female pioneer in weekly publications in the region. During the late 80’s and 90’s, she was the managing editor at the Lake County Star newspaper. It was her skill, intelligence and fierce determination that made and kept the weekly publication relevant until she was invited to join the staff at the Times Newspaper, Crown Point and Munster, in the early 2000’s. She did stories at the Holiday Star Theatre, interviewing many celebrities, then doing obituary stories on people’s lives in the Region, which families appreciated. She exemplified and epitomized the standards and ideals of local journalism, especially those of small town Indiana. Adele’s awards for her writing included: 1988, the prestigious Peter Lisagor award from the Chicago Headliner’s Club for journalists in the greater Chicagoland area. 1989, the Edgar Mills award from Northwest Indiana communicators and she was named the Communicator of the Year, 1990, two first place awards for Excellence in Editorial writing and she was also awarded the Northwest Indiana award for the National Cancer Society Highest Achiever reward. Adele was preceded in death by her parents-Marcella and Steve Gorecki; her beloved husband of 47 years-Robert Mackanos; George and Stella Mackanos; son-Steve Mackanos; Joann and Ed Pollok; Aunt and Uncle-Peter and Lillian Sulich, Terry Sulich. Uncle Edward and Aunt Eleanor Poplon. She is survived by her daughters-Marcie (Michael) Boyd, Karen (Gary) Long; grandson-Jason (Jessica) O’Hearn; granddaughters-Chelsie and Kaycee Mackanos; daughter-in-law-Heather Mackanos; great grandchildren-Shawna Garr, Justin Reynolds, Joshua, Jocelyn and Jonathan O’Hearn; sister-in-law-Mary (Bruce) Winslow; nieces-Renee (Ron) Kimberling, Marissa Winslow; nephew-George Pollok; cousins-David and Robert Poplon; cousins-Tom, Emily, Steve and Jamie of the Sulich family. We are grateful to caregivers, Miss Diane, Miss Louise and Miss Eva, who took such excellent care of our mother. Visitation for Adele will be December 13, 2022 from 10:00 a.m. until time of funeral service at 12:00 p.m., at Burns Funeral Home, 10101 Broadway, Crown Point, IN. Interment at Calumet Park Cemetery, Merrillville, IN. www.burnsfuneral.com.

Adele L Mackanos

December 17, 1939 - November 30, 2022