Memorial service set today for 'grandam of Lake County politics'

Lake Forest resident Virginia Fiester Frederick was perhaps as well known for her fashion designs as for her years as a state lawmaker.

Frederick, who designed a gown for the White House wedding of President Lyndon B. Johnson's daughter Luci in 1966, later served in the Illinois state House for 15 years.

She died Monday at Westmoreland Nursing Center in Lake Forest. She was 93.

Raised in Iowa, Frederick received a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa in 1938. She worked in fashion from 1947 to 1979.

During that time, Frederick designed and made the wedding wardrobe for presidential daughter Luci Baines Johnson's mother-in-law.

Frederick was the first woman elected to the Lake Forest City Council, serving from 1974 to 1979. She was elected to the state House in 1978 and served until 1994.

State Sen. Susan Garrett, a Lake Forest Democrat, called Frederick the "grandam of Lake County politics."

"She was an inspiration for all women interested in getting into politics," Garrett said.

After leaving political service, Frederick earned a master's degree in liberal studies from Lake Forest College in 1999. She later wrote an autobiography, "Moving On: My life Through the Twentieth Century and Today."

A memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. June 11 at Grace United Methodist Church, 244 E. Center Ave., Lake Bluff.

Interment will be private in Lake Forest Cemetery.

Memorial gifts may be sent to the Lake Forest-Lake Bluff Historical Society, 361 E. Westminster, Lake Forest, Ill., 60045. Memorials also may be sent to the University of Iowa Foundation, attention Charlene Sauer, P.O. Box 4550, Iowa City, Iowa, 52244.

Survivors include three children, eight grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.