Palatine Daily Herald retiree always a ‘Classy Lady’

For more than 20 years, Wanda Pleska, helped customers place classified ads in the Daily Herald.

It was something of an art form, as Mrs. Pleska and her department colleagues worked at crafting just the right description — in the allotted number of lines — to enhance the ad and move the item.

Over the years, they developed steady customers and kept a friendly competition as to who could place the most ads.

Mrs. Pleska passed away April 21. The longtime Palatine resident, most recently of St. Charles, was 90.

Daily Herald customers now have the option of emailing, faxing or placing their ads online, but back in the days before computers, classified ad representatives were the only link between the paper and its readers.

Like many of the women she worked with, Mrs. Pleska came to her job after her daughter was in school. Consequently, the co-workers shared a lot in common and they developed strong friendships.

Lorraine Oliver of Palatine was one of them. She worked with Mrs. Pleska in Classified and says they took great pride in their work.

“There was a lot to it,” Oliver says. “We were writing the ads and making any corrections. If you did a good job, people would call back and ask for you again.”

Kay Grimm of Schaumburg remembers that Mrs. Pleska came in early on Saturdays to take more classifieds, and between her co-workers and her customers, Mrs. Pleska loved her job.

“There were other things she did besides taking ads,” Grimm says. “She worked with the display ad reps, checking to see that the ad that was ordered, was in the paper.”

Former Advertising Manager Don Longacre said Mrs. Pleska handled tearsheets, or hard copies of the ads, for the ad agencies.

“I could always count on her to get her job done,” Longacre said.

Mrs. Pleska worked full time at the Daily Herald from 1966 to 1985. Even after her formal retirement party, managers in the Display and Classified sections called her back to work part-time, which she happily obliged.

When she stepped away for good, Mrs. Pleska filled her time volunteering at the Palatine Public Library, where she helped in the circulation department and shelved books.

Her Daily Herald job and her co-workers remained important to her. Every month, she and the other retirees from the Classified department met for lunch, calling themselves the Classy Ladies.

They met again on Tuesday and remembered all the good times they had with Wanda Pleska.

Mrs. Pleska was preceded in death by her husband, Frank, and her daughter, Diane Sujack. She is survived by her four grandchildren, Lori (Doug) Smith, Lisa (Eric) Hoagberg, Scott (Trish) Sujack and Tony (Katy Sujack, as well as 10 great grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, at Christ Lutheran Church, 41 S. Rohlwing Road in Palatine.