Special Olympics athlete from Elgin was a fierce competitor
Decorated Special Olympics athlete Anne DeDobbelaere was remembered for her fierce competitiveness, work ethic and outgoing personality after her death Tuesday.
DeDobbelaere, 57, a lifelong Elgin resident, died after she was hit by an SUV while crossing Wing Street, away from the crosswalk, earlier that dark, rainy morning, said her father, Bob DeDobbelaere. She had just finished her customary breakfast of diet soda and a small muffin with her roommate at a nearby bagel shop and was headed to the apartment they shared near Wing Park, he said.
She was conscious when she arrived at Presence St. Joseph Hospital, but her heart gave out a few hours later. She'd been in good physical health during a checkup three weeks earlier, her father said.
“It was a shock,” he said. “(My wife) Maureen and I, we were not able to talk for two days.”
Anne won a gold medal, two silvers and a bronze in cross-country skiing at the 2001 World Winter Games in Alaska. She had amassed hundreds of medals for competing in basketball, volleyball, aquatics, rhythmic gymnastics, softball and cross-country skiing at national and international events.
She was named grand marshal of the Elgin Fourth of July Parade in 2001. “I love (skiing). It gets me out and keeps me in shape,” she told the Daily Herald that year.
Her mental abilities were impaired as a result of grand mal seizures at age 1. She graduated in 1981 from the Bartlett Learning Center and worked as a bagger at Jewel-Osco on Larkin Avenue in Elgin, where she never missed a day of work in 28 years.
Anne and her four brothers were exposed to sports at an early age through their mother, Maureen, a physical education teacher. Anne started track and field at age 9 and competed at age 18 in the 1979 Special Olympics World Summer Games.
She got into cross-country skiing, which became her favorite sport, at age 21 and reached the state competition as recently as February, when she earned three gold medals. Special Olympics Illinois ended its cross-country skiing program this year, and Anne was planning to join the snowshoeing team, said Area 2 director Amy Kaylor, who knew her more than 30 years.
Anne would have loved to celebrate Special Olympics' 50th anniversary next year, Kaylor said.
“She was a fierce competitor,” Kaylor said. “She loved sports, loved to be on the team. She had this most amazing voice and laugh, loud and fun ... and if she had an opinion, she'd be sure to tell you.”
Anne didn't venture out alone after dark but took the bus and rode her bicycle all around Elgin, Bob DeDobbelaere said. She liked to walk with him, first at Spring Hill Mall in West Dundee and then at the Centre of Elgin, and go clothes shopping with her mother. She attended Sunday services with her parents at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Elgin.
She had a terrific memory, stunning relatives at family gatherings by remembering everyone's full birth dates. That skill helped her flourish at Jewel-Osco, her father said.
“When people said, ‘Oh, I didn't mean to buy that' and gave things back, they would give these things to Anne, and she would be able to get them right back to where they belonged.”
Visitation is 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Laird Funeral Home, 310 S. State St., Elgin. Funeral Mass is at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 215 Thomas More Drive, Elgin.