Inis E. Palushik

Inis Palushik was a very special woman who dedicated her life to her family. Always thoughtful and caring, she found great happiness in the simple pleasures in life. Of all the wonderful things in her life, time spent with her loved ones towered above all the rest. Inis loved to be surrounded by her family, and loved spending her time being a wife, mother and grandmother to the people who brought her life immeasurable joy.

Inis Eugene Cornell was born on August 21, 1927, in Laona, Wisconsin. She was the second oldest of eleven children to LeRoy and Leona (Eastman) Cornell. Inis grew up on their family farm and her parents made sure the children learned responsibility by pitching in with daily farm chores. As a young girl, Inis remembered her mom teaching her how to bake and she had to stand on a chair in order to help knead the dough. This early experience gave her a love of baking and cooking. With such a large family in harsh economic times, things were tough for the Cornell family, but they were held fast with the things money couldn’t buy. Like many young girls of that time, Inis attended school through the 8th grade then left to help on the farm.

Inis was 17 when she married her beloved husband, Rudolph “Rudy” Palushik, who was a truck driver for the cheese factory and used to stop to pick up milk at their family farm. Rudy’s parents were also farmers near Wabeno in the township of Freedom, and he and Inis helped run their farm after being married. They eventually bought the farm, and it was here they would raise their three wonderful children: William, Pauline, and Steven. The family was saddened with the loss of Russell Gene, who died three days after his birth. Like her mother, Inis loved to bake and used to make 14 to 16 pies at a time and 12 loaves of all types of bread. At Christmastime, she generously baked enough to share with the neighbors too. Growing up in a large family, Inis knew how to cook for an army, and no one was ever turned away from her table. In fact, she loved to cook so much she put together a scrapbook full of recipes she collected over the years, with hopes of maybe making them one day.

In 1972, Inis’s daughter, Pauline, went to Milwaukee to help care for a family friend, and it wasn’t long before Inis followed. Eventually, she and Rudy made their home in Milwaukee, where he found work at Industrial Ovens and Inis stocked shelves at a wholesale grocery. When Inis was in her late 50s, she was diagnosed with diabetes and began struggling with it in the mid 1990s. Sadly, she lost her beloved husband, Rudy, on September 16, 2005, after over 60 years of marriage. With the need of some extra help, Inis lived with her daughter Pauline after he beloved husband, Rudy had passed. Inis went to live at the Cameo Care Center in 2008. She enjoyed spending her leisure time reading (until her sight diminished), and looked forward to visits from her children and grandchildren, who she loved dearly.

Inis Eugene Palushik (nee Cornell) went to be with the Lord on Monday, August 9, 2010. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, Rudy Palushik, cherished son, Russell Gene, and siblings: Lorraine, Patricia, Charlotte, Robert and Eugene. Cherished mother of William R. (Virginia), Pastor Pauline M. Rouse, Steven L. (Ann). Dear sister of Delbert, Lester, Richard, Donnie and Jerry. Further survived by 4 grandchildren, 4 great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, other relatives and friends.

Visitation will be on Thursday, August 12, from 11 a.m. until time of the funeral service at 1 p.m. at Suminski Family Funeral Home, 2486 S. Kinnickinnic Avenue, Milwaukee (414-744-5156). Please visit Inis’s personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com where you may share a memory or sign the online guest book.