Longtime Bucktown Bar Owner Dies
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The owner of the popular Marie's Rip Tide Lounge in the Bucktown neighborhood has died, according to published reports.
Marie Wuczynski died of heart failure Monday at her home above the tavern, the Chicago Tribune and the blog Chicagoist reported. She was 88.
Wuczynski was already working at the bar, at 1745 W. Armitage Ave., when she bought it in 1961. She had planned to give the space a Hawaiian theme, but ended up adapting to the Polish-American neighborhood around it, with polka bands several nights a week, the Tribune reported.
As artists and hipsters supplanted working-class immigrants in the neighborhood, the 4 a.m. bar became a frequent destination for a late-night stop. Bill Murray and John Belushi visited at various points, and Andy Richter showed it off on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in 1997, the Tribune reported.
The lounge was also the subject of two songs, "Marie's Riptide" by Robbie Fulks and "20 Miles South of Nowhere" by Michael McDermott, according to the Chicago Bar Project.
Metromix described Wuczynski as a "grandmotherly woman" who would often entertain the patrons with a five-penny magic trick, strike up a sing-a-long, or tell stories about old times.
A Yelp critic called her "so much fun" and happy to do shots with the customers.
Visitation for Wuczynski will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. Sunday and Monday at the Gogolinski-Trofimuk Funeral Home, 1850 N. Wood St., and a funeral mass will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary of the Angels Catholic Church, 1850 N. Hermitage Ave., the Tribune reported.
