Des Plaines’ chief communicator retires after 35 years
Karen Kozenczak has spent 35 years spreading the news about the city she was born and raised in.
And after her last official day Friday as the city of Des Plaines’ director of media services, Kozenczak says she’s planning to spend her retirement there, too.
“It’s the only town I’ve really lived in,” she said. “It’s a great town to grow up in, raise a family in, and grow old in. And that’s my plan.”
Kozenczak was hired in 1978 as a “public relations technician” under then-Mayor Herb Volberding. Her position evolved over the years to include responsibilities for the city’s public access programming in the 1980s — when Des Plaines was one of the first suburbs to broadcast city council meetings and in-house programming on the Cablenet TV service.
And as director of media services since 2007, Kozenczak has overseen the production and distribution of city news releases and newsletters, coordination of the city website, and communication with residents during emergencies such as floods. That includes use of the city’s reverse 911 system, which notifies residents about emergencies via phone.
“That’s where it becomes paramount to have a good communication tool in place ready to go to make sure residents are informed,” she said.
The way Kozenczak has done her job has certainly changed since the time she was hired right out of college. But she says it’s been a learning experience.
“I think it’s actually gotten better with all the years and all the technology. The new technology is fantastic. When I started, we didn’t have cellphones. Now you can get text alerts instantaneously. Electronic communications make delivery of news that much more spontaneous.”
After graduating from Maine West High School in 1975, Kozenczak went on to earn a communications degree from Butler University. When she returned home, she took advantage of a federal job placement program that sought to provide job experience for those just entering the workforce.
Kozenczak split time working for the city and park district, and was later hired full-time by the city.
Just eight months into her job, Des Plaines police arrested serial killer John Wayne Gacy, after they had investigated a Des Plaines missing person’s case. Kozenczak’s future husband, Joseph, was the chief of detectives who led the investigation that led to Gacy’s arrest. He later became the Des Plaines police chief, and in the late 1990s, the couple cowrote “The Chicago Killer: The Hunt for Serial Killer John Wayne Gacy.” They are currently working on a book about a friend who was a “colorful” Chicago police officer that will entail “slices of his life on the street,” she said.
Looking back on 35 years on Friday, Kozenczak said she’s had “a wonderful career.”
“It’s a great job. I met a lot of good people. I worked for seven mayors. ... It’s been a really great opportunity.”
Upon her retirement, some of her duties will be filled by current city media specialist Will Soderberg.