Reflecting on those who died this year in Lake County

We said goodbye to several notable Lake County residents in 2014. They left indelible marks on their communities through impressive accomplishments and dedicated community service.

While the list includes several local politicians, it also includes a former U.S. ambassador and the former artistic director of the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre.

Robert Depke

Robert “Bob” Depke was a larger-than-life personality who was a force in Warren Township and Lake County politics for decades. But when it came to family, “he was a marshmallow,” his son Shawn Depke said.

Bob Depke died June 20. He was 84.

As Warren Township supervisor for 35 years and Lake County Board chairman in the 1960s and 1990s, Depke didn't “back down from any challenge,” former county board Chairman Jim LaBelle recalled.

Back in the 1980s, political opponents and open-space advocates gave the Republican the label “Bulldozer Bob” for his pro-development stance. Depke soon welcomed nickname, displaying a toy bulldozer in his office.

Depke helped expedite the growth of corporate giants such as Baxter International and Abbott Laboratories. When the federal government threatened to close the Great Lakes Naval Station among military cutbacks in the early 1990s, Depke was one of the key figures fighting to keep the base near North Chicago.

The county board named a new facility after him — the Robert W. Depke Juvenile Justice Complex near Vernon Hills — on the heels of his surprise primary defeat in 1996.

Depke's biggest source of pride was the sprawling Warren Township complex, where he helped bring services for seniors, youth and children with special needs, Shawn Depke said.

Dyanne Kathleen Earley

As artistic director of the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, Dyanne Kathleen Earley was known for her passion for theater.

Earley, of Mundelein, died July 24. She was 76.

She was the Marriott's artistic director from 1980 to 2001. She directed productions including “My Fair Lady,” “Windy City” and “Miss Saigon” and earned several nominations for Joseph Jefferson Awards, which recognize excellence in Chicago-area theater.

Earley was the first woman nominated for musical direction by the awards committee.

“Her passion for theater was unmatched,” said Terry James, the theater's current executive producer.

Earley especially loved children's theater. She wrote and directed many productions for young audiences.

“She was really devoted to that,” James said.

He described his friend and former co-worker as “a force to be reckoned with,” but he meant it respectfully.

“A lot of people would say she was tough on the outside, but as is so often the case, not through and through,” James said. “She had a wicked sense of humor. She could easily laugh at herself.”

David Hall

During more than 20 years on the bench, Lake County jurist and former Chief Judge David Hall, 61, heard a variety of cases in the 19th Circuit Court, including traffic, misdemeanors, DUIs, small claims, juvenile, divorce, chancery and civil proceedings.

Hall died May 20 from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. He was 61.

He was remembered for having a range of interests. He was chairman and a member of the Lake County Family YMCA board and played keyboard and was a backup singer in a classic rock and roll band called “Target.”

“Judge David Hall was a man of superb intellect and marvelous wit who never let go of his fascination with history and love of music, particularly rock and roll,” Chief Judge John Phillips said. “In the courtroom he strove to ensure that every litigant, attorney, and witness left his courtroom knowing that the Judge had truly listened to what they had to say and that his decision was justly based on the law and the evidence that was presented.

“Outside the courtroom he was zealously devoted to his family, always exploring history, ready to play rock and roll in an instant, a delight to be around, but at all times ready to give his all for his family, his friends, a worthy cause and the law.”

Hall was appointed an associate judge in 1989. In 2000, he was appointed a circuit judge by the Illinois Supreme Court to fill a vacancy. Later that year, he was elected to a six-year term and was re-elected in 2006. Hall served as acting chief judge, presiding judge of the civil division and as chairman of the judicial Court Facilities Committee. He was elected by his peers as chief judge in late 2007.

Ray Hartstein

Hartstein, the founding chairman of Oakton Community College and to many its driving force, “put his blood, sweat and tears into making a college that everybody can be proud of,” eulogized his son, Buffalo Grove Village President Elliott Hartstein.

OCC President Margaret Lee called Hartstein “the father of Oakton,” saying, “If it hadn't been for Ray, I'm not sure that the college would have happened.”

Hartstein, who died in September at age 96, had an abiding love of education and a belief in community colleges. He was on the Oakton board for 35 years and OCC's Evanston campus bears his name.

Hartstein also had a successful career in industrial relations, including a few years in Israel on behalf of the American Embassy to set up training programs at Hebrew University and Technion — and meeting such luminaries as David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan.

But his greatest passion was community colleges. Founded in 1969 in four Morton Grove factory buildings, by 1980 the Des Plaines campus opened and in 1995 classes began at the Ray Hartstein Campus in Evanston.

Hartstein was president of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, which annually gives out the Ray Hartstein Outstanding Trustee Award.

Robert D. Stuart Jr.

Lake Forest resident Robert D. Stuart Jr., who spent 15 years as Quaker Oats Co.'s chief executive officer, is remembered for his service as a U.S. ambassador, philanthropy, business acumen and political activism.

Stuart, whose grandfather co-founded Quaker Oats, died May 8. He was 98.

After serving in the Army in World War II, Stuart attended Yale Law School and received his juris doctorate in 1946. He then joined Quaker Oats, where he was CEO from 1966 to 1981.

Stuart, who sat on several corporate boards including United Airlines, was praised for diversifying and expanding Quaker while CEO. PepsiCo merged with Quaker in 2001.

President Ronald Reagan appointed Stuart as ambassador to Norway. He remained chairman emeritus of the Council of American Ambassadors.

Other federal positions followed for Stuart when he returned home from Norway in 1989, such as appointments to the defense Base Closure and Realignment Committee by Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton in the early 1990s. Stuart also was involved in the Republican Party in Lake County.

“Robert Stuart was a patriot who served his country not just as an ambassador, but in countless ways through his work in our communities,” Senator Mark Kirk said. “Bob was tireless through his 90s in his patriotism.”

Robert Tunnicliff

By the time Robert “Bob” Tunnicliff retired from Libertyville High School in 1986, he had left an indelible mark — a distinguished career as a football coach, its first athletic director and induction into a couple halls of fame.

“He still, after retirement, loved Libertyville High School athletics,” said current Athletic Director Briant Kelly.

Tunnicliff, 90, died Nov. 21.

He moved from downstate Havana to Libertyville in 1954 to become the high school's head varsity football coach and its first athletic director.

Tunnicliff, who had a 85-48-11 overall coaching record and three North Suburban Conference titles with Libertyville, was inducted into the Illinois Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 1995. Some of his coaching highlights came at the expense of Barrington High School.

“Probably the thing I remember most vividly was that we beat Barrington four years in a row,” Tunnicliff said in his Hall of Fame acceptance speech. “At least three of those years — maybe all of them — Barrington was undefeated except for us.”

Tunnicliff landed in the Lake County High School Sports Hall of Fame in 2007.

Thomas Weber

Veteran Wauconda Unit District 118 board member Thomas Weber was remembered as someone who “epitomized all that was good about public service.”

Weber, of Wauconda, suffered a stroke May 4 and never recovered, district officials said. He died May 18. He was 65.

“Purple and gold ran through his veins,” District 118 Superintendent Daniel Coles said in an email, referring to Wauconda High's colors. “He was an outstanding school board member. If it wasn't good for kids, he wanted no part of it.”

The owner of the Nut and Candy House in Wauconda, Weber had served on the District 118 board since 1995. His tenure included stints as board president and secretary. He last won election in 2013.

Weber volunteered with the Wauconda Booster Club, the Wauconda Fest Committee and other groups. He also had worked as a security guard at Mundelein High School.

Wauconda village board member John Barbini was the District 118 superintendent during Weber's early years on the school board, and they became friends over time.

“He epitomized all that was good about public service,” Barbini said. “He gave selflessly of his time in so many ways that benefited others.”

Doris K. Weidner

Former Wauconda Township Assessor Doris K. Weidner dedicated much of her adult life to public service.

Weidner, who oversaw township property assessments for 17 years until 2006, died March 12. She was 70.

A licensed real estate agent, Weidner worked as a deputy assessor in Ela Township before taking the Wauconda Township assessor's job in July 1988. She replaced Violet Hammonds, who had retired midterm, and then successfully ran for election in the ensuing years.

Township Supervisor Glenn Swanson recalled Doris Weidner as “a real go-getter.” She was instrumental in planning the township's 150th anniversary celebration in 2000, he said.

“(She) wanted to be involved and help people,” Swanson said.

Weidner was active with the Wauconda Township Historical Society, the Wauconda Women's Club, Women in Government Service and other professional and political groups.

Artis Yancey

A longtime Waukegan police officer who ascended the ranks to lead the department as chief and later served as Lake County coroner and Waukegan city clerk, Artis Yancey was remembered as a humble and quiet “pillar of the community” with an infectious smile.

“This man,” Pastor Gerald Wilcoxon said, his voice punctuating those two words and rising for emphasis during the eulogy, “held true to the model 'To Serve and Protect.'

Yancey died March 19. He was 54.

About 700 police officers, fire officials, family and friends, local politicians, community leaders and other mourners filled Mt. Sinai Institutional Baptist Church in North Chicago for a nearly three-hour service that alternately celebrated Yancey's accomplishments and grieved his sudden death.

Yancey served 21 years with the Waukegan Police Department, rising from patrol officer to detective to deputy chief before his appointment as chief in 2009. He held that post until retiring in August 2010.

A Democrat, Yancey was appointed coroner by the Lake County Board in 2011, replacing Richard Keller.

Yancey was the first black person to hold countywide office in Lake County.

“He was a very good and righteous man,” said Wayne Motley, who was on the Waukegan police force with Yancey and had known him for more than 20 years.