5 decades of serving St. Charles
It'll be tough to top the early birthday gift Caryl VanOvermeiren received Friday night.
Seated among hundreds of family, friends and colleagues, the nurse and longtime Kane County politician was honored with St. Charles' prestigious Charlemagne Award -- just in time for her 70th birthday Monday.
"This is an unbelievable day," VanOvermeiren said.
The 86th annual lifetime achievement award, handed out by the St. Charles Chamber of Commerce, recognized VanOvermeiren for decades of community service and political work dating back to her first years in St. Charles.
In accepting the award, she credited faith and family for her ability to stay involved over the years.
"I guess life goes on, and you just keep pedaling forward," she said. "If somebody asks you to do something, you say yes, whether you know how to do it or not."
A Waterloo, Iowa, native, VanOvermeiren moved to the city in 1953 and quickly began hinting at a political future as treasurer of the Junior Senators at what was then St. Charles High School.
In the late 1950s, after completing nurses training, she began her medical career at Delnor-Community Hospital in Geneva and a local doctor's office. Despite the crunch of her professional life, VanOvermeiren was able to remain active in the lives of her children, Debbie and Tate. She was troop leader and chairman of the St. Charles Girl Scouts and vice president of the Fox Valley Girl Scout Council.
VanOvermeiren's political aspirations took further shape in 1968, when she became a Republican committeeman and began working for the U.S. Senate campaign of Sam Witwer.
Once her children were grown, she sought additional education to be certified as a nursing home administrator, prompting a move from being a school nurse in St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 to director of nursing and assistant administrator at The Holmstad retirement center in Batavia.
In 1989, VanOvermeiren ran unsuccessfully as a write-in candidate for St. Charles alderman, but she was quick to bounce back. Three years later, she was elected as a District 13 Kane County board member -- a post she kept until retiring in 2006.
She was board vice president for three consecutive terms and served on numerous committees, including executive and finance panels for the Kane County Forest Preserve. She is credited with being influential in the Fox Valley Trolley Museum project, among others.
Award: Service started when she moved to city in 1953