Woman who defied odds retires from St. Alexius

Patty McGlinn of Hoffman Estates, whose childhood diagnosis of Down syndrome meant a life expectancy of 25 years in the 1960s, was her usual smiling self Thursday as she retired after 37 years in food service at Amita St. Alexius Medical Center.

McGlinn, 56, was surprised with a ceremony attended by family, medical center staff and many past and present Hoffman Estates firefighters she's befriended while working there.

Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod read a proclamation declaring Saturday, Sept. 2, Patricia McGlinn Day in the village.

Also there - and the first person McGlinn hugged - was Nancy Gianni, who founded Hoffman Estates-based GiGi's Playhouse Down syndrome Achievement Centers to better the lives of others like her 15-year-old daughter GiGi.

"I can't even imagine what it was like 55 years ago," Gianni said in discussing the challenges McGlinn has overcome. "What a gift to have a family that surrounds you with love - and expectations."

McGlinn grew up the middle child of seven. Her youngest sister, Mary Meyer, said the then typical response of applying for disability was not pursued by their parents John and Dorothy, who also attended Thursday's ceremony.

McGlinn wasn't immediately diagnosed with Down syndrome when she was born in 1961. The main sign her parents had of a developmental difficulty was that it took her until the age of 5 to speak, Meyer said.

"While other people may see special needs, we see only special," Meyer told the crowd of friends and colleagues at Thursday's ceremony. "Thank you for every encounter you've had with my sister over the past 37 years."

McGlinn, who's moving to St. Charles as both of the parents she's lived with in Hoffman Estates are now in assisted living, said she plans to spend her free time on the artwork she's always loved.

Though she already had 35 years' work experience, she said she learned a lot from an 18-month internship program at GiGi's Playhouse that she completed about a year ago.

Gianni said there are many social and living skills taught in the program that don't naturally come up at work. But McGlinn's ability to share her practical work experience with younger people in the program was a boon.

"She always just wanted to give," Gianni said. "You don't work for 37 years unless you're working hard."

McLeod praised McGlinn for having helped thousands of people through her work delivering meals and cleaning dishes and tables at St. Alexius, dating back to when it was Humana Hospital in 1980.

"Patty is the Alexian Brothers spirit in action," said Meyer, who also once worked for the company at Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village.

Meyer added that one of her sister's strongest blessings has been to be a lifelong resident of Hoffman Estates, whose schools and services have served her so well.

"This is the community my family has cherished since moving here in 1962," she said.