Former BG police officer creates foundation in honor of late wife

Connie Sizer spent her life beating the odds.

Sizer, who came to America after growing up in extreme hardship in South Korea, lived for nearly 14 years with multiple myeloma, a condition with a median survival rate of only 21/2-3 years.

Friend Penny Kahn said, "She was so proud that multiple myeloma didn't get her. That was her mission in life, that it wouldn't win."

In the end, it wasn't multiple myeloma, but leukemia, that ended her life on Dec. 12.

Now the Arlington Heights woman's fight is being carried on by her husband, Bob Sizer, and their close friends.

The Connie Sizer Foundation has been created to raise money for cancer research, education and prevention.

The foundation, established shortly before Connie's death, has already provided Christmas meals for three families. Each got a $100 gift card to Aldi.

A food drive, a spaghetti dinner, a comedy night and a spring 5k run are also being planned. In addition, the foundation is planning a fundraiser Dec. 11, 2010 at the Flat Iron Arts Building in Chicago, and a cookbook is in the works.

One of the founders, Buffalo Grove police Sgt. Roy Bethge, said one of the major goals is to build "Connie's House" in Rochester, Minn., to provide sanctuary for those being treated at the Mayo Clinic, where Connie Sizer went several times.

Those who witnessed Connie Sizer's battle admired the way she took care of her family despite her setback.

"One tenth of 1 percent of multiple myeloma patients live for 10 years," Bethge marveled.

Bethge's wife, Judy, an attorney, processed the paperwork for the foundation, which has been registered by the state as a nonprofit organization.

Bethge said about $950 was donated at Connie's wake, with $300 already given to charity.

"Our goal is to keep administrative costs almost to nothing," Bethge said.

Suk Nan "Connie" Sizer was born in 1940. She survived harrowing conditions during the Korean War and then, at 15, her father sent her to work for a cousin in an abusive arrangement that was tantamount to servitude.

She eventually fled to Seoul, where she met an American soldier who married her and brought her to the U.S.

However, he soon threw her and their 9-month-old daughter out of the house. A neighbor found her work at a club for noncommissioned army officers at Fort Bragg, N.C.

That's where she met Bob Sizer, an Army corporal.

He walked in with a friend and after she took their order, said, "I'm going to marry that girl."

They were married in 1968 and settled in Chicago. Bob adopted her daughter, Joy, who works for Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare, and Bob and Connie had another daughter, Jane, a lawyer who practices near Madison, Wis.

But at first, times were tough. At one point, they were living out of a beat-up Chevy.

Their situation gradually improved. Bob held a job with Peoples Gas, and the family moved to Arlington Heights in 1972. He still lives in that same house on Stratford Road.

"I don't think there ever was such an ideal marriage," Bob said.

At 54, Bob Sizer changed careers to become a Buffalo Grove police officer, staying with the department until his retirement at 65. He now is a part-time Warrenville police officer.

Connie also worked part-time for the Buffalo Grove Jewel from 1974 until 1996.

Bob Sizer said his wife lived for other people. "She would meet you and in less than two minutes would pick something out that was an asset of yours." And she would often, charmingly, fracture the English language, like calling Muhammad Ali, "Miami Wally."

Having grown up hungry, her own kitchen was well stocked. "She had three refrigerators that she shopped every day (for)," her husband said. "You couldn't fit a Popsicle in there."

Her generosity showed itself in many ways.

Judy Bethge recalled what was supposed to be a routine visit to the Sizers for a cup of coffee that turned into a feast of tempura and kimchee.

In 2005 Connie returned to Korea where she essentially adopted a blind beggar on the street, buying him groceries and blankets.

But in March 1996 her energy dissipated and she developed mouth sores. Blood tests revealed a high protein count, while her hemoglobin was drastically low. She was referred to an oncologist, who extracted some bone marrow, and then told her she had eight to 18 months to live.

"It was like somebody cut your heart out and ate it," Bob Sizer said.

Connie had chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant and survived nearly 14 years.

Earlier this month, she was diagnosed with leukemia. She checked into Northwest Community Hospital on Dec. 6, but not before she first went to a Korean store and filled two shopping carts with groceries for others.

On her last day, she rallied, and her family was able to take her home to die, surrounded by her five grandchildren.

For details on the foundation, visit conniesizer.org. To donate, go onto the Web site; send a check to the foundation at 3604 Chapel Hill Road, Johnsburg, IL 60051 or stop in a local TCF Bank branch. The Connie Sizer Foundation also has a Facebook page.