Susan Marie “Susie” Hernandez, who played the lottery every day and filled her family’s Thanksgiving table with cherry cups and Hawaiian salad, died Oct. 28 in Chicago after a battle with aggressive cancer.
Hernandez was born June 27, 1954, in Chicago. She did clerical work for a law firm for much of her working life and later retired from Computershare.
She lived in the city’s Clearing neighborhood, downstairs from her daughter, Andrea Hernandez, whose accomplishments she followed closely. Her family said she valued the neighbors who made her years there pleasant.
At Thanksgiving, her cherry cups, Hawaiian salad, potato salad, and cheese ball with crackers became family tradition. She played the lottery daily and liked an occasional trip to the casino.
She and her partner, Joel Cordova, called each other “Hunny.” Their dates were movies with lunch afterward, the casino, or both. At home she watched “The Price Is Right,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” “Law & Order” and “The Golden Girls.”
She was a Christian and kept in touch with longtime friends and cousins.
She is survived by Cordova; her daughter; her sons, Rene Bijarro and Zowie Bijarro; her sister, Elsa Siwicki, and Siwicki’s husband, Rick; eight grandchildren, Daniel, Anyssa, Matthew, Anthony, Analecia, Marissa, Danny and Jayden; and three great-grandchildren, Noah, Angelique and Aaliyah.
She was preceded in death by her father, Gabriel Vera, and her brother, Gabriel Arroyo.
A visitation and time of remembrance is scheduled for 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, at Damar-Kaminski Funeral Home & Crematorium, 7861 S. 88th Ave., Justice. Cremation rites will follow.