Longtime Herald employee set standard for accuracy, customer service
Anita Wilkins ~ 1921-2008
Anita Wilkins never had a byline in the Daily Herald, but she contributed to its editions for nearly 34 years. As a display advertising representative covering the Arlington Heights territory, she helped to grow the paper's flagship edition, building its regular accounts into Northwest suburban mainstays.
Miss Wilkins died Nov. 22. The longtime Arlington Heights resident was 87.
She began her career with Paddock Publications in 1954, starting as a proofreader before becoming a sales representative one year later. At the time, she worked with Margie Flanders, sister of publisher Stuart R. Paddock Jr., and the two forged ahead in what was considered a man's business, Flanders said in a 1988 interview.
One of Miss Wilkins' accounts as far back as the early 1960s was Butera's Finer Foods. Owner Paul Butera recalls how Miss Wilkins drove to their original offices in Chicago each week to pick up their display ad.
"She did everything for us," Butera recalled last week. "Those were the days before faxes and e-mail. She'd drive to the city each week, pick up our ad and then bring it back to the layout artist, where she proofed it first. She was very efficient and reliable, and went over and above to make us happy."
Butera's eventually expanded to include more stores in Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows and Wheeling, while moving its corporate offices to Elgin, and Miss Wilkins handled the ads for all of them.
Employees at another one of her longtime accounts, Teddy's Liquors in Arlington Heights, remembers Miss Wilkins taking care of their display ads for nearly 30 years, including ones for their multiple stores in Arlington Heights and Palatine, and later Crystal Lake.
"She really helped establish our name in the Northwest suburbs," said Connie Karavidas, of Teddy's Liquors.
The ads for Teddy's were complicated to produce, with lots of different bottles and labels, and multiple opportunities for mistakes. But Miss Wilkins proofed them herself, making sure the lines were correct, Karavidas says.
At the time, a new employee working in the art department was assigned to work with Miss Wilkins.
"I was so nervous. I had heard she was demanding and exacting, and had really complicated ads," says Marcie Paddock. "But she turned out to be the easiest salesperson to work with. She knew exactly what she wanted, and liked to set up most of it herself."
Miss Wilkins grew up in Wheaton, the oldest of three daughters of a textile salesman and a homemaker. She studied liberal arts at North Central College in Naperville before working for Southeastern Airlines, first in New Orleans and later Memphis.
Working in radio communications in the control tower, Miss Wilkins learned Morse code. During World War II, she filled in for the men away for the war, transmitting signals both for the airline industry and the military.
Miss Wilkins returned to the Chicago area in the mid-1950s, relocating to Arlington Heights, where her parents had moved. Her job with Paddock Publications turned into more than employment for Miss Wilkins.
"She never married or had a family of her own, so she was very much married to her job," says her nephew, Mike Arcese of Kirkland, Wash. "She was very involved in her customers and their families, and she was interested in the details of their lives."
Robert Y. Paddock Jr., vice chairman and executive vice president of the Daily Herald, says Miss Wilkins personified the paper's local focus, of reflecting the community and businesses in the Northwest suburbs.
"She really epitomized who we are, and who we are still striving to be," Paddock said, "of knowing your territory and knowing your businesses, and of going the extra mile to service them."
Besides her nephew, Miss Wilkins is survived by her sister Mary Lou, of Palatine, three more nephews and six great nieces and nephews.
Reflecting Miss Wilkins' love of her English ancestry, acquaintances are having an Afternoon Tea at the Daily Herald Office Center cafeteria, Margie's Cafe, named after her longtime friend, Margie Paddock Flanders, from 3 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 2. The office center is at 155 E. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights.