Macdonald leaves legacy of grace and commitment

Call it a commitment to good government. Call it the belief that all politics is local. Call it, if you will, a less partisan era, when Republicans and Democrats worked together without quite so much rancor.

Talk about any or all of the above, and then consider a female legislator working for women's rights back when the women's legislative caucus in Springfield was small enough to meet in a cloakroom.

Combine all of that, and you have the career backdrop for Virginia Macdonald, who during two decades at the Capitol joined a cadre of pioneering women lawmakers who quietly built a legacy of hard work, moderate views, decency and commitment to constituents.

Macdonald, of Arlington Heights, died Saturday at age 87. Those who worked beside her during 10 years in the House and 10 in the Senate were quick to laud her.

State Rep. Carolyn Krause, of Mount Prospect, recalls hosting a coffee on Macdonald's behalf when Macdonald sought a delegate's seat at the state's 1970 Constitutional Convention.

"I had seen her commitment to community activities when I was beginning to be involved in civic organizations, and I knew this was someone I would like to support," said Krause, adding that Macdonald became a steadfast friend and mentor to whom she turned often during her own years as a mayor and state legislator.

Dawn Clark Netsch, who served with Macdonald as a delegate at that 1970 convention and later as a state senator on the other side of the aisle, noted Macdonald's dedication to making the process work.

"She came out of what we lovingly and laughingly called the League of Women Voters syndrome: suburban Republican, moderate, very good-government oriented," said Netsch, who made a 1996 run for governor and now serves as professor emeritus in Northwestern University's Law School.

Macdonald was one of just eight women among 177 House members when she first won election. Few of her contemporaries remain in Springfield. Many other trailblazing women who shared the chamber with her have died in recent years. Eugenia Chapman, of Arlington Heights: Giddy Dyer, of DuPage County. Adeline Geo-Karis, of Zion.

State Rep. Rosemary Mulligan, who was elected to the House the same year Macdonald retired from the Senate, understands the importance of remembering their contributions.

"I don't think younger women realize how much women her age really were groundbreakers," Mulligan said.

When she retired from the senate in 1992, Macdonald cited Illinois' failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment as a career disappointment. Netsch said she figured that Macdonald, as a Republican, paid a higher price for her strong support of the ERA than Democratic women did.

Former Lt. Gov. Bob Kustra, now president of Boise State University, also recalled Macdonald's work for the ERA but also said she received too little attention for another vital role.

"The '70s were a time when suburban legislators were emerging as a political force in the legislature," said Kustra, who, as a GOP senator from an adjacent district, worked closely with Macdonald. "She was one of those leaders in the legislature who understood the political power that the suburbs were amassing on issues like education, and property taxes and women's rights. She really was a pioneer and a leader."

Close associates speak of Macdonald's classy and gracious demeanor.

"She was always civil and decent," Netsch said. "She behaved the way one hopes all legislators would behave. She wasn't on her feet, screaming and hurling invectives. She went about her business in a very civil, responsible way - something I gather is rather missing in Springfield these days."

In fact, Kustra said, Macdonald's General Assembly seat, located directly on the aisle, allowed her to literally as well as figuratively reach out to Democrats.

"When you left the chamber by the main aisle, you went by Ginny's desk," Kustra said, "and it became the gathering point for Republicans and Democrats alike who were looking for common ground."

Taking a bipartisan approach did not mean that Macdonald lacked conviction. Former Gov. Jim Edgar recalled that she was "green before it was popular to be green" and was a "bulldog" on the issue of cleaning up rivers. She fought for property-tax limits, to broaden protections for victims of sexual assault.