Christy Stigailo began raising monarch butterflies in her home — starting with the hunt for eggs on the back of milkweed leaves and following the creatures through their life cycle as a chubby waddling caterpillar to jewel-like chrysalis to beautiful butterfly.
“Watching the butterflies evolve was amazing,” said her daughter, Amie Elliott. “But watching mom do her thing is what really got me. She’d get so excited over the tiniest discoveries. Her passion was infectious.”
Mrs. Stigailo, 70, died Friday, Jan. 23, in her Glen Ellyn home, following a short battle with renal cell cancer, her family said.
She also shared her knowledge of monarch butterflies through her job in the circulation department at the Glen Ellyn Public Library, where each spring she set up hatching tanks behind the checkout counter and gave short lectures throughout the day to fellow staffers and patrons curious about the miracle of nature unfolding before their eyes.
“She was just quirky enough to make people laugh, but so bright and interesting that when she spoke everyone listened and then walked away feeling smarter and inspired,” said Carrie Jeffries, the library’s director of circulation. “She made it special.”
It wasn’t unusual for Mrs. Stigailo to come in on her day off hoping to catch the exact moment as a butterfly emerged.
“The best part was when a butterfly started beating its wings and she’d take it outside to set it free,” said former co-worker Judy Walden. “There’d be a trail of people following her out the door.”
“Months after she (retired), people kept asking ‘Where is the butterfly lady?’ ” Jeffries said. “The children, especially, remembered her.”
Mrs. Stigailo collected books on butterflies that she later donated to the library.
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“At least one of her books had the answer to just about any question a patron might ask,” Walden said. “The fun for her was in finding it.”
Born Christy Gulbrandsen in Omaha, Neb., Mrs. Stigailo spent her early childhood in Whitefish Bay, Wis., before moving with her family to Glen Ellyn at age 10. Her father was an engineer, who made toys for disabled children and designed products for the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. Her mother was a craftswoman and candle maker.
“She came from a long line of creative people that loved working with their hands,” Elliott said.
A graduate of Glenbard West High School, Mrs. Stigailo attended Lincoln College in Illinois for two years. At age 23, she married Alex Stigailo. That marriage ended in divorce. She married Robert Vostal about 10 years ago.
Before retiring, Mrs. Stigailo also volunteered many hours creating a garden next to the library’s parking lot, where she planted milkweed and prairie grass to help attract monarchs.
“Thanks to Christy, we have a garden filled with beautiful monarchs in the summer that everyone can enjoy,” Jeffries said.
Mrs. Stigailo also is survived by another daughter, Beth Stigailo; a sister, Gwen Lazzarini; and four grandchildren.
Services are private.