Elgin volunteer, politician known for generosity
Shirley Rauschenberger was a firm believer in serving her community.
Her service included a 12-year stint on the Elgin Area School District U-46 board, and being a leader on the boards of the YWCA and YMCA in Elgin, an Episcopal Churchwomen group, the Boy Scouts, the Sybaquay Council of the Girls Scouts, the Salvation Army and the Elgin Area Chamber of Commerce.
Rauschenberger, 88, died Monday.
"She had a very strong personality and a very strong sort of feeling for family and community," said her daughter, Carol Rauschenberger. "That was her way, I guess, her influence on the world."
She grew up in Elgin, moving away briefly to work for the Chicago Daily News as a copy girl.
She married her husband, John, in 1946, and they moved back to Elgin, where they raised six children.
Carol Rauschenberger said like many wives of the 1950s, her mother put her career ambitions on hold to raise her children. Her community service work was an outlet for her intellectual and creative passions.
Shirley Rauschenberger also supported her husband at the family business, Rauschenberger Furniture. She also did advertising and marketing for Chuck Hines Store for Men, then the Spiess Department Store, and then worked at Ackemann's Furniture Store.
She was also an editor at the Elgin Free Press, which later became the Elgin Herald.
One volunteer effort that surprised Carol was when her mother helped found the Open Door Clinic in Elgin in 1977. The clinic focuses on treatment of sexually transmitted infections, education and prevention.
"Wow, that was a little more progressive of my Mom (than was expected)," Carol Rauschenberger said.
Shirley Rauschenberger was a recipient of the Cosmopolitan Club's Distinguished Service Award and the Altrusa Club's Woman of the Year Award.
She helped on the state senate campaigns for her son, Steve. And in 2008, she ran for Kane County Board. She was a Republican precinct committeeman.
She is survived by daughters, Laurel Kracen of Arizona and Carol Rauschenberger; sons John of Chicago, and Thomas, Steve and Keith, all of Elgin. She is also survived by 13 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband in 1999; her parents and a brother.
A wake is 9 to 11:15 a.m. Saturday at Laird Funeral Home, 310 S. State St., Elgin. Services and burial will be private. Memorial gifts may be made to the Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois at girlscoutsni.org/give; Boys Scouts Three Fires Council, www.threefirescouncil.org; or St. Hugh of Lincoln Episcopal Church in Elgin, sthugh.net.