Longtime Batavia school trustee Rosalie Jones Link dies

Rosalie Jones Link was passionate about educating the children of Batavia.

So she spent many an evening sitting at the Batavia school board table, figuring out how to provide the best for them. In 22 years as a trustee she missed only three meetings.

"There have been some times that have been disappointing," Link said at her last meeting in November 2001. "But 99.9 percent of the time, what we do here - the long meetings and so on - are extremely satisfying and rewarding.

"It has been an honor and a privilege for me to be a participant in this process on behalf of this city and community."

Link, 79, died Sept. 19 at her home. Family and friends celebrated her life at a funeral Sept. 23.

Link became a registered nurse in 1960. She worked as a school nurse at Batavia Middle School, and as an office nurse for a physician. She later worked for The Holmstad retirement community.

She joined the Batavia school board in 1979, and served until she lost the 2001 election. From 1993 to 2001, she was president of the board. After her loss, the board named the district's new headquarters after her.

During her tenure the city and the district experienced tremendous growth as the population doubled. The district constructed a replacement middle school and two replacement elementary schools, enlarged the high school, and added two elementary schools. There were controversies, such as when it redrew attendance boundaries for elementary schools, and when it put a special program out at a new west side school.

"We don't make decisions that affect children in a light manner. I have never made a decision, in my mind, that wasn't in the best interests of Batavia children," Link said at the time.

Her husband, Richard, died in 1992. She married Dwight Link in 2010.

Link was a co-founder of the Batavia Foundation for Excellence in Education, one of the first school foundations in the state, and advised others on starting and running such fundraising organizations. She was on the board of directors for the Northern Illinois Association for the Handicapped.

She is survived by her husband; daughter Jennifer Jones Hale; four stepchildren; a sister; and three grandchildren.

Memorial gifts may be sent to TriCity Family Services, 1120 Randall Court, Geneva, 60134, or Chapelstreet Church, 2300 South St., Geneva, 60134.