Teacher, community activist will be missed in DuPage
On any given day, Sandra L. Devine would meet with students who spoke Urdu, Gujarti or even Tagalog, one of the major languages spoken in the Philippines.
She met her students one-on-one or in small groups as their English Language Learning tutor at Cloverdale School in Carol Stream.
"She was a touchstone for them, as they came into a new school and community," says Principal Michael Jankiewicz. "She had a genuine love of children, and was a source of welcome, support and compassion."
Mrs. Devine met with some of her students as recently as December, but she did not return after the holiday break. She passed away Sunday, after a long battle with cancer. The former Hanover Park resident, most recently of Carol Stream, was 61.
For nearly her entire life, Mrs. Devine lived and served residents of DuPage County, having grown up in Bensenville and attended Fenton High School.
As a young adult, she earned her law degree from John Marshall Law School in Chicago and immediately went to work for the Illinois Attorney General's office.
She resigned in 1978, when the first of her three children was born, to be a stay-at-home mother, says her husband, Stuart.
Within a few years, Mrs. Devine began serving on the school board of her children's school, Trinity Lutheran School in Roselle, which led to an even larger role within her community.
"Once we moved out to Hanover Park, she became aware of the lack of park facilities on the southern end of the village, in the DuPage County portion," Stuart Devine says.
Mrs. Devine ran for the park board in 1983 and ultimately served three terms on the Hanover Park Park District board of commissioners.
"She was a voice from the southern end of the park district," says Larry Wheeler, former executive director.
During her tenure on the board, officials completed a massive renovation of the parks and playground facilities, Wheeler said, as well as a $2 million renovation to the community center.
A referendum that would have funded the construction of a recreation center on the DuPage County side of the district, however, failed, he added. Within a few years after Mrs. Devine left the board, the park district built Seafari Springs Aquatic Center on the DuPage side, following through on discussions started when she was on the board.
"She was very community-minded," her husband added, "and very much involved in helping young people."
Besides her husband, Mrs. Devine is survived by her three children, Julie, Jorie (Jarrod) and Eric. Visitation will begin at 4:30 p.m. today before a 5 p.m. funeral service at Trinity Lutheran Church, 405 Rush St. in Roselle.