Every year we say goodbye to a remarkable array of individuals who have made contributions, large and small, to these communities. The following is just a small sample of that very long list:
Jill Poehlman, 71, co-founder of Julian’s CAST program
Prakash Navinkant Desai, MD, 74, psychiatrist, educator, author
Rick Meegan, 80, last Oak Park newsstand operator
Janet Cunningham, 64, longtime District 90 executive assistant
Richard Waichler, 81, senior management, Follett Corporation
Peter Traczyk, 48, District 97 school board president
Paul (above) and Kathryn Dunn, 95 and 87, co-founders of Alcuin, the first Montessori school in Oak Park
Patricia McCarthy Daniel, 72, production coordinator for local TV and movies
Robert Lewis, 65, Special Olympics athlete, Batman fan
John Quillinan, 92, former Oak Park fire chief
Pat McDonald, 50, large-scale sculptor of “Arched Rings” by Trader Joe’s
John (above) and Margaret O’Neill, both 80, longtime local realtors
Janice Robinson, MD, 67, West Suburban Hospital physician
Eileen Quinn, mother of Illinois’ former governor Pat Quinn
Christopher Lewis, 27, talented athlete
Ed Vincent, 63, online news publisher
Eunice Jensen, 84, professor, women’s rights advocate
Thomas Williams, 94, longtime Oak Park funeral director
Cardinal Edward Egan, 82, archbishop of New York City, grew up in St. Giles Parish
Peg Van Duyne, 79, created “One with One” nonprofit