Macdonald was one of few women in state legislature

Virginia Macdonald's children knew her as the woman who cooked meals from scratch and helped her daughter shop for a prom dress.

Her constituents knew the Arlington Heights grandmother as a groundbreaking Republican state legislator who devoted more than 40 years to public service.

Macdonald, 87, died Saturday in her Arlington Heights residence, surrounded by her family. She had been in ill health for the past six months.

Born in El Paso, Texas, Macdonald attended the University of New Mexico, where she met her late husband, Alan.

The couple moved to Evanston, where, her daughter Susan Van Bramer said she became involved in a number of causes.

In 1953, they moved to Arlington Heights.

Her son Alan said that at the time, "There was nothing south of Central (Road). That whole area was farmland."

Politics proved a fertile field for Macdonald, who volunteered for Dwight Eisenhower's re-election campaign in 1956 and Richard Nixon's unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1960.

Alan Macdonald said his mother also worked on the campaigns of Sens. Everett Dirksen and Charles Percy. She acted as Dirksen's state director of the Women Volunteers for Everett Dirksen during his 1968 bid for the Senate.

Before serving in the legislature, her accomplishments included chairing the Cook County Republicans and serving as a delegate to the 1970 state Constitutional Convention.

She was the only woman who was a member of the Bill of Rights Committee that created the state's Equal Rights provision at the Sixth Illinois Constitutional Convention.

She served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1972 to 1982, before moving to the Illinois Senate from 1982 until 1992.

In 1973, she was one of just eight women in the then 177-member House and one of 11 women in the 236-member General Assembly.

In a letter published in 1975, Macdonald urged support of the Equal Rights Amendment. Noting that Illinois voters gave their support to the issue of equal rights by ratifying the 1970 Constitution, she asked, "Why should any member of the Illinois General Assembly be influenced by tactics of fear and disturbing half truths regarding equal rights when evidence of support by the people has been repeatedly documented?"

She proved a popular legislator.

"She may have had one of the highest pluralities of any elected official in the state of Illinois," her son said, adding that the Democrats always had trouble finding opposition for her. "She was very attuned to what the people she represented wanted to have done."

At the same time, she remained devoted to her family.

"She was always Mom to me," Alan said.

"She never let the politics interfere with the fact that she was our mother."

Her daughter Susan said, "She was just an amazing person, because she was a loving, feminine, nurturing mother and then she was also such a talented administrator and public person."

Van Bramer said her mother was a sort of Superwoman, who was involved with the Girl Scouts, helped found St. Simon Episcopal Church in Arlington Heights, cleaned her own house until her latter years and held dinner parties that would include such guests as Donald Rumsfeld.

Among those close to Macdonald was Arlington Heights Mayor Arlene Mulder.

"It's a huge loss for the village of Arlington Heights," Mulder said Sunday.

Mulder said Macdonald was a role model who believed in good, honest government.

Among those who had respect for her was former Arlington Heights Village President John Woods; Macdonald recently appeared in a local cable documentary on Woods' life.

"She was in politics, but I think her heart was always in serving the community," Mulder said.

Macdonald was never one to say "I'll think about it," if asked to take a position she did not believe in, Mulder said.

Her legislative accomplishments included laws requiring hospitals to safely dispose of nonradioactive medical waste and reimbursement for reconstructive breast surgery.

In addition, she sponsored bills to bring Lake Michigan water to the Northwest suburbs, decentralize the state's juvenile court system, broaden the state's rape law to include the charge of sexual assault and create property tax caps for suburban Cook County.

In addition to her daughter, Susan (John) Van Bramer and son Alan H. Macdonald Jr., Macdonald is survived by grandchildren Rebecca, Diana, Michael and Joseph Van Bramer and Michelle (Christopher) Smudde.

Visitation will be Wednesday from 2 to 9 p.m. at Lauterburg & Oehler Funeral Home 2000 E. Northwest Highway, in Arlington Heights.

The funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Simon Episcopal Church 717 W. Kirchoff Road in Arlington Heights.

Interment will be in Oakridge Cemetery in Hillside.