Elizabeth Campos

Elizabeth “Lisa” (Natalizio) Campos, age 92, passed away peacefully at Evanston Hospital on May 2, 2024 after a long battle with dementia.

Lisa was born to the late Giuseppe Domenico Natalizio and Agata Paola (Fedele) Natalizio on November 15, 1931 in Casignana, Reggio Calabria, Italy. After her father left for the United States, her mother tragically passed away when Lisa was 4 years old. She was raised by her maternal grandparents, the late Anthony and Maria Fedele and beloved aunts and uncles.

To say Lisa was fiercely independent is an understatement. She came to the United States at 18, first living in Miami with her father, and later settling in Chicago with her maternal grandparents.  After coming to Chicago, she completed a medical technician program through Northwestern University, married the late Jose Angel “Joe” Campos, and started a family. 

Lisa was a woman ahead of her time. In the early 1960s, Lisa opened Campos Medical Laboratory, in Wicker Park and then relocated her business to Logan Square in the early 1970s. She was issued the first independent medical laboratory license to a woman from the City of Chicago. She operated Campos Medical Laboratory for over 50 years.  She took great pride in her work and cared deeply for her patients and the doctors she worked with. Lisa also enjoyed investing and managing real estate. After her divorce in the early 1970s, she proudly purchased her own home in Norridge, IL, which became the heart and soul of the family. There, she raised her kids, hosted legendary parties and gave her grandchildren a magical place to grow up and have fun.

Lisa was a real renaissance woman. In addition to being a mother and operating her own business, she loved art, traveling, hosting parties, cooking, gardening, rescuing animals, storytelling and spending time with friends and family. She traveled the world in her lifetime, but especially loved vacationing in Fort Myers Beach, FL and traveling back to Italy to spend time with her family. She was a painter and loved creating stained glass art which filled her home. Lisa loved animals, maybe more than people. She loved cats the most, usually having at least one around most of her life, but also had dogs and birds throughout her life, some of them rescued from the street.

In her later years, you could always find Lisa sitting in her backyard in the sun or tending to her abundant garden. There wasn’t a Sunday that went by that she wasn’t hosting family and friends for Sunday lunch. She always made double the food necessary, and her family still dreams about her pasta and meatballs. No one can tell a story like her. She loved to regale her friends and family with tales from her village in Italy, stories of being a child in Italy during World War 2, and any number of stories from her incredible life. She lived the American Dream.

She is survived by the great loves of her life, who are her two children, Joseph Anthony Campos (Kristin) and Agatha “Katie” Virginia Campos, her six grandchildren, Jenna Lee Campos, Joseph James Campos (Melanie), Joshua Anthony Campos, Gillian Marie Gryz, Jocelyn Elizabeth Gryz, Gabriella Michelle Ziomek (Christopher), and her two great-grandchildren, Quinn Faye Campos and Paxton John Campos.