Michelle Heeler Obituary: Michelle L. Zath, 55, of Washington, once of Morton, died on Sunday, December 8, 2019, at UnityPoint Health-Methodist in Peoria. She was brought into the world on December 13, 1963, in Peoria, Ill., to Carl and Pat (Heeler) Kozlevcar. She wedded Rick Zath on March 12, 1988, in Morton. He endures.

Additionally enduring are her folks of Morton; one sibling, CJ (Mona) Kozlevcar of Wyckoff, N.J.; one niece, Olivia Kozlevcar; and one nephew, Andrew Kozlevcar.

Michelle went to Blessed Sacrament Grade School and was a 1982 alumni of Morton High School. She moved on from Eastern Illinois University in 1985, with a degree in English, and afterward joined in and moved on from Purdue University in 1987, with a Master’s certificate in Rhetoric and Composition. She likewise went to Indiana University in Indiana, Pa., where she sought after her doctorate. Michelle worked at DeVry University in Atlanta, Ga., prior to moving back to Illinois, where she worked at Methodist College.

She cherished instructing and encouraging her understudies.

Michelle was an individual from Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Morton, where a Mass of Christian internment will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, December 14, 2019, with Msgr. Gerald Ward administering. Appearance will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Friday, December 13, 2019, at Knapp-Johnson Funeral Home and Cremation Center in Morton, trailed by Recitation of the Rosary by Deacon Kevin Zeeb. Further appearance will be held from 9:30 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday, before the administration at the congregation. Internment will be at Hillcrest Memory Gardens in Morton.