Laurie Wren

Laurie Ann (Rabaut) Wren was a fiercely proud and determined woman who died peacefully in her sleep on October 1, 2022.

Laurie was born at Cottage Hospital in Grosse Pointe, MI on June 26, 1937, the first of three daughters born to Charles P. and Ruth M. Rabaut. A member of the class of 1955, she proudly sang the praises of Dominican High School in Detroit. In 1961 while working at Jam Handy on Grand Boulevard, she eagerly said “yes” when Frank Wren, a smooth-talking, traveling sales rep (first for Ford, later for FTD), proposed to her. She ignored church customs and several family members when they eloped and moved to Texas. After returning to the Midwest, they had two daughters – Patricia and Tracy. When Frank announced he would not pay for his daughters to go to college, Laurie wasn’t worried. She had been doctoring the family checkbook for years, working her way up from temporary bookstore cashier to Executive Assistant to the President of Harper College (Palatine, IL), hiding the money that would be needed. Laurie and Frank slow-danced to Frank Sinatra, held raucous cocktail parties, fought and made up, used hand signs to signal “I love you too” from across a crowded room, and defied all the odds as their marriage lasted 41-years until Frank’s death in 2002.

Over her lifetime, Laurie embodied considerable faith and constancy. She was an active member and usher at every church she joined – New Life Lutheran (Hoffman Estates, IL), Prince of Peace Lutheran (Orlando, FL), and Emmanuel Lutheran (Naples, FL). She was a sharp-dressed member of the Red Hatters. She participated in and made fast friends in bowling leagues, bridge clubs, and Rummikub groups. She prided herself in never sitting at the same dining room table two nights in a row at Lexington Square Senior Living Community (Lombard, IL).

Laurie loved cheap wine with ice cubes in it, competitive card games of all kinds, and shopping for bargains at TJ Maxx. Family car trips always included a cooler well-stocked with baby bottles on ice containing pre-mixed Tom Collins and Whiskey Sour cocktails. She possessed a razor-sharp wit and comedic timing.  Laurie wrote parody songs that were performed by a group of wives known as “Frankie’s Devils” at FTD annual conventions. For friends and family, she assembled scrapbooks for special birthdays and occasions. She had an encyclopedic memory for dates and phone numbers. You could always count on Laurie to call or send a card to commemorate birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, or any special event. Laurie, with sisters Carol and Ronnie, sang 3-part harmonies at their summer home on Union Lake, countless hotels and bars, wedding receptions, and infamous Cousins Camp talent shows.

Laurie was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Ruth; half-brothers, Chuck and Lou; husband, Frank; and many beloved relatives (including aunts, uncles, cousins, and nephews). She is survived by sisters Carol Rabaut (now the matriarch of the family) and Ronnie Biondo (Joe Biondo); daughters Patricia (Melissa Smiley) and Tracy (Philip Gliori); stepchildren Gary (Nancy Urban), Doug (Terry); and Claudia Stokes; as well as loved ones who called her grandmother, sister, aunt, cousin, and lifelong friend far too numerous to name.

In lieu of flowers, please play $20 in the penny slots at your nearest casino in Laurie’s honor.

Arrangements have been made to donate her brain to the University of Maryland Brain and Tissue Bank, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) NeuroBioBank. https://neurobiobank.nih.gov/ We hope that in death, researchers can use Laurie’s experience of dementia to extend the lives and quality of life for many others.

Interment will take place at a distant date at Arlington National Cemetery. Laurie will be laid to rest next to her husband Frank, a decorated and combat-wounded World War II veteran.