Dist. 211 board member dedicated to her community, family

Dedication was a quality Susan H. Kenley-Rupnow had in abundance.

Her 20-year tenure as a Hoffman Estates trustee, her numerous hours as a volunteer and her time as a Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board member are the proof.

Hoffman Estates Trustee Karen Mills, a longtime friend, spent 12 years with Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow on the village board. She said Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow's dedication extended further; she leaves behind two daughters and a son.

"That's her legacy," said Mills.

Cancer took the 58-year-old Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow on Saturday. Her death will leave a void for many in the Hoffman Estates area. She first battled breast cancer after voters in 2007 elected her to the District 211 board. A relapse last summer kept her away from regular attendance at board meetings where her signature gesture would be to gently remove her glasses and then express her concerns with an opinion or motion.

District 211 Board President Robert LeFevre called her honest, objective and forthright. District 211 Superintendent Nancy Robb said Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow enthusiastically supported staff initiatives.

"Sue's straightforward approach, sense of humor and insights will be greatly missed," Robb said.

The District 211 board was one way Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow continued to serve the village after voters ended her career on the Hoffman Estates board in 2005. She ran for village president at that time but was defeated by incumbent William McLeod.

Though the campaign was contentious, McLeod said he and Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow remained friends. He credited her with rallying voters in 1985 and convincing them that a tax hike was needed to construct a public works building to store snow plows and other equipment.

McLeod and Mills even suggested naming the public works building after Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow, who also chaired the village board's finance committee and started the capital improvement board. Village board members called her a leader.

"When she believed in something, she really pushed for it and fought for it," McLeod said.

Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow was the daughter of John Harmon, a former village trustee in the 1960s for whom Harmon Boulevard was named. He showed his daughter how to be a public servant.

"She may have gotten a lot of that from her father," said her husband, former Barrington Township Supervisor Michael Rupnow. "He always had a good community spirit."

Former Hoffman Estates Village Attorney Richard Williams said she "always asked the hard questions and demanded accountability."

"Her wisdom will be missed," Williams said.

Despite Kenley-Rupnow's work with groups like the Children's Advocacy Center, the Boy Scouts of America and as a youth soccer and softball coach, Mills again pointed to her relationship with her children, particularly Kathleen Kenley, a senior at Hoffman Estates High School.

"Our running joke after she lost in 2005 was that the good thing about it is she would have her Monday nights (from village meetings) off to catch up on the 'Gilmore Girls' with Kathy," Mills said.

Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow worked for 14 years with Target Promotions.

In addition to daughter Kathleen, Mrs. Kenley-Rupnow's survivors include son Scott Kenley and daughter Kristin Beutel and granddaughter Megan Beutel. Kristin Beutel said over the last couple days she and her siblings have realized the impact their mother has had on the community.

"And that's something that we'll always be able to keep with us," she said.

Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. today at Ahlgrim and Sons Funeral Home, 330 W. Golf Road, Schaumburg. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Church of the Cross Presbyterian Church, 475 W. Higgins Road, Hoffman Estates. Burial will follow a St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery in Palatine.