Antoinette was born in Gary Indiana on October 12, 1933, the Daughter of Joseph and Santina (nee Caravana) Vagnone.  She graduated from Gary, Indiana, Lew Wallace High School in 1951.  Antoinette was always very artistic. While still in High School she worked at the Spasso Photography Studio, coloring photographs.  At that time, photos were taken in black and white, printed in sepia, and then hand colored.

While still in High school, she worked as a clerk selling candy at the Ridge Department Store in Gary.  Due to her secretarial skills, she was soon promoted to the office.

Following her high school graduation she attended Indiana University, Gary Center.  She was employed by the Board of Education and became a secretary for the Superintendent of Gary Schools.

On October 2, 1954, she married Ronald J Repking in St Mark Church in Gary, Indiana.  Mr Spasso took her wedding pictures and his wife tinted them.  The picture of her seated alone was so beautiful, that he displayed it in the window of his studio for many years.  In 1965, during a family move to Rye New York, the picture was lost.  Mr Spasso agreed to replace the lost picture with the one on display at his studio.

During her first years of marriage, her husband was in the Army.  At that time she held a series of secretarial jobs.  While she was in New Jersey with her Husband while he attended the US Army Radar School at Fort Monmouth, she became a secretary in a small law office.  Due to harassment, she quit that job and became secretary for a firm developing solar power.

After the Army transferred her husband to Chicago, she went to work at the Veterans Administration in Gary, Indiana.  Following the discharge of her husband from the Army, she resigned her position and moved with him to West Lafayette where he attended Purdue University.  Her first child was born while he was a student there.

Following his graduation, she no longer worked as a secretary since she was very busy raising her family.  She and her husband moved to Cincinnati, Ohio; Dunbar, WV; Chicago Heights, IL; Rye, NY; before settling in Flossmoor, IL.

Antoinette was always athletic.  For many years she enjoyed playing indoor tennis at the court located behind the former Holiday Inn in Harvey.

Antoinette was very active in the parish of Infant Jesus of Prague.  She attended daily Mass where she prayed the Rosary with her friends. She was an Officer of the Bible Study Group for over twenty-five years before resigning.  She stayed active in Church affairs serving at one time as a Eucharistic Minister. She sang with the Church Choir and for many years was been a member of the Resurrection Choir. She also attended the weekly Prayer Group at Infant Jesus of Prague, which was one of the largest and most successful in the area. She and her husband attended the monthly VIP luncheon.

She is survived by her husband Ronald J Repking and her children; Mrs Cynthia Lyn (Curt) Fisher of Naples, FL; David Joseph (Pam) Repking of Cave Creek, AZ; Mrs Janet Joy Crane of Dyer, IN; Mrs Karen Marie (Doug) Engberg of Punta Gorda, FL; Robert Shawn (decd) (Emily) Repking of Chicago Heights, IL; Ronald Gregg (Elizabeth) of Glen Ellyn, IL; and James John (Barbara) Repking of Elmhurst, IL; fourteen grandchildren and two great grandchildren

Her parents Santina (Caravana) Vagnone and Joseph Vagnone; her brother, Donald Vagnone; her sister-in-law, Irene Vagnone; son-in-law, Curt Fisher; and son Robert Shawn Repking preceded her in death.

Her funeral Mass will be offered from St Stephen Martyr Church located at 5920 Waite St, Merrillville, IN 46410. Phone: (219) 980-9348.  Viewing will be from 9:00 am until Mass at 10:00 am. Internment will follow in Calumet Park Cemetery. In lieu of flowers please make donations to Dune’s Hospice or a donation in Antoinettes name to your favorite charity.

Nearly every time she went on a trip with her Husband, Ron, He would sing to her a German Love Song, which he had first heard, sung by his Grandparents in the late 1930’s.  Then in the 1960’s when their Daughter, Cynthia, worked in Milwaukee, she taught them several verses in English.  Here is Ron’s love song for Toni

Du, du, liegst mir am Herzen,

Du, du, liegst mir im Sinn.

Du, du, machst mir viel Schmerzen,

Weißt nicht, wie gut ich dir bin.

Du, du, du, du, du, weißt nicht wie gut ich dir bin!

You, you, you are my true love

You, you, you are the one

There’ll be no one but you love

Nobody under the sun

I wandered alone

I’d never known one loving glance

Until the day you came my way

Bringing the thrill of a lovely romance

Love, love, love me forever

You, you, you are the one

We’ll spend our life together

Sharing the rain and the sun

Just one look at you

And then I knew we’d never part

There’ll never be two loves for me

You are the one love that lives in my heart

Ja, ja, ja, ja, weißt nicht wie gut ich dir bin!