Memorial to pay homage to former Fox River Grove president

Fox River Grove will pay tribute to former village president Kay Laube this summer with a memorial inside Picnic Grove Park.

Laube, elected village president in 2005, died in office last summer after a five-year battle with cancer. She was 61.

While officials already have planted a swamp white oak tree in Laube's honor at the park, a donated granite boulder with a bronze plaque will follow in late June, said Village President Bob Nunamaker.

The Fox River Grove Lioness Club will donate a bench in Laube's honor as well. She was the club's founding member.

Plans for the memorial had been in the works since two months after Laube's death.

Laube, who would have turned 62 on May 2, was active on Fox River Grove's political scene for nearly three decades.

She got her start in local politics 24 years ago as a member of the town's zoning board of appeals from 1985 to 2005.

Active in the local green movement, she helped establish a playground at Picnic Grove Park, said Laube friend and Village Clerk Donna Brouder.

She also served from 1997 to 2005 on the Fox River Grove School District 3 board, where Nunamaker met her.

"We were good friends," he said.

On the community service side, Laube remained active in local Girl and Boy Scout groups, and supported families who adopted children from Korea.

A date has not yet been confirmed for the memorial ceremony, but Laube's husband Ed and their two children are expected to attend.