Longtime teacher, West Dundee resident dies

June Wolk of West Dundee rose above her personal tragedies and became a woman known for giving back, whether it was to her village, Community Unit Community District 300 or her friends.

Wolk was a single parent, and both of her children preceded her in death. Even so, her life still revolved around bringing joy and happiness to others, her friends say.

“She could have been a bitter woman, but she chose not to,” said Elgin Fire Chief John Fahy, who lived across the street from Wolk and was one of several friends looking after her when she became ill. “June was the type of person, she always wanted to know how you were doing. She was always giving.”

Wolk died Sunday after complications stemming from cancer. She was 84 years old.

Education was very important to Wolk.

She spent 35 years teaching first grade in District 300, starting out at Dundee Grade School and moving to Parkview Elementary School in Carpentersville. She retired from the district in 1990, but stayed on as a substitute teacher.

“Parents would come to register their children and beg to have Miss June for a teacher,” friend Peg Van Meter wrote in a letter. “Her reputation for getting children off to a great start in school was legendary.”

Wolk's late daughter Jennie Maguire taught at Perry Elementary School in Carpentersville while Bill Doran was principal and he was there for Wolk when Maguire died in 1998.

After Maguire's death, Doran recalled, Wolk never forgot his birthday and says she always brought a homemade cake to him every Christmas. For one of his birthdays, Wolk, an avid gardener, gave him two “knock out” rose bushes.

“She continued to do these acts of kindness to me and, as an individual, I feel fortunate to have known her,” said Doran, who is now principal of Westfield Community School in Algonquin. “I loved her. She was a beauty.”

After retiring from the school district, Wolk joined the Dundee Township Historical Society. Other activities included the Dundee Backyard Garden Club, the Fox Valley Rose Society and the Elgin Community Theater.

Wolk was also a mainstay at the annual Dickens in Dundee, a three-day festival that takes place around Christmas and features a living, holiday-themed windows display. You'd often find her posing in a window with one of her beloved Yorkshire terriers.

“This is the first time in a long time June will not be in the living windows,” Fahy said.

Services were held Wednesday.