Community journalist was passionate about Winfield, West Chicago
Friends may have called Alyce Bartlett “Scoop,” but community journalism was her middle name.
The longtime Winfield resident and journalist died Tuesday after a brief illness.
She began her career in 1967 at The Winfield Glimpses. She also wrote a column and edited special sections for the Daily Journal.
From there she became a columnist for the Daily Herald, West Chicago Press and, most recently, The Winfield Press.
Rich Bysina, vice president of membership for the Western DuPage Chamber of Commerce, sent an email to members Friday to tell them of the passing of “one of the great ladies of Winfield.”
“When I started working for the Winfield chamber in the summer 1996, Alyce was one of the first people I met,” he said. “For the next 15 years, I didn’t know of anyone who promoted the village of Winfield, its local organizations and our chamber in a positive way more than Alyce did. And the Winfield Farmers’ Market has lost one of its most loyal customers.”
During her career she had many opportunities to meet presidents, actors and many local people of interest. She was passionate about her work. Colleagues and supervisors remember the connections Bartlett made with her beats and sources.
“She was a character,” said local columnist Merle Burleih who occasionally crossed paths with Bartlett during their days at the Winfield and West Chicago Press publications. “She always had an interest that went a little deeper than a regular meeting story. She took that initiative to get to know her subjects, and they appreciated that.”
Daily Herald City Editor Bob Smith worked with Bartlett at both the Daily Journal and, more recently, the Daily Herald.
“During her heyday, Alyce was an institution in both West Chicago and Winfield,” he said. “She had a wonderfully outgoing personality, and it seemed like she knew everyone in town and everyone knew her. She had a deep commitment to both communities and a deep desire to tell stories in a style that was all her own.”
Daily Herald DuPage County Editor Jim Davis also shared ink with Bartlett early in his career.
“My first newspaper job was at the Daily Journal, where Alyce was a veteran, covering West Chicago and Winfield. She was beloved by her sources,” Davis said. “I was thrilled that years after I left the Journal, we were able to bring Alyce to the Daily Herald as a freelance columnist, writing about the communities she loved so much.”
Alyce is survived by her children, Joan (Kim) Haas of Holcombe, Wis., Bob Bartlett of Mounds View, Minn., Ellen Morris of Waukegan, Kathleen (Pete) Henry of Genoa, Ill., Charlie (Donna) Bartlett of Winfield and Ann (Ken) Weseman of Wheaton; 16 grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; brother, Dick (Judy) Witt of Prescott, Ariz.; sister-in-law, Rita Bartlett of Oak Lawn; and many nieces and nephews.
Family and friends are to gather Sunday, June 17, for a memorial visitation from 3 p.m. until the time of service at 5:30 p.m. at DuPage Memorial Chapel, 951 W. Washington St., West Chicago. A memorial Mass will be said Monday, June 18, at 10 a.m. at St. John the Baptist, 0S233 Church St., Winfield.