Funeral Saturday for former Stevenson High School trustee
A funeral will be held Saturday for a longtime Lake County resident who served on the Stevenson High School board and in many other community roles.
Ellen M. Van Demerkt, 85, died Tuesday. Most recently of Grayslake, Van Demerkt previously had lived in Lincolnshire for 50 years.
Born in Lincolnwood, Van Demerkt graduated from Niles Central High School in Skokie. She attended Loyola University Chicago for a couple years until she married, said her daughter, Nancie Hart.
In the years that followed, Van Demerkt had a variety of jobs in diverse fields, her daughter said.
She was a reporter for a now-defunct weekly newspaper called the Vernon Town Crier, she worked as a bookkeeper at a florist shop and she briefly owned a women's boutique called the Red Apple at Olde Half Day Road and Milwaukee Avenue in what's now Lincolnshire, just to name a few of her ventures.
"She was very independent for her time," Hart said.
Van Demerkt served on the Stevenson High board in the 1970s while her children attended the Lincolnshire school, Hart said.
Later, Van Demerkt worked as Vernon Township's senior citizen coordinator. In that post, Van Demerkt organized weekly lunches, activities and outings.
"It was a party every week," Hart said. "It was something they all looked forward to."
Van Demerkt also found time to be a Brownie and Girl Scout troop leader and a Cub Scout den mother, as well as a girls softball coach in a local park district league.
"She was always the first one to volunteer. And she'd jump into anything, even if she didn't know much about it," Hart said. "She was a force of nature."
In addition to Hart, Van Demerkt's survivors include: her husband, Raymond; a son, Steve; two grandchildren; and a brother.
Visitation will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday at Burnett-Dane Funeral Home, 120 W. Park Ave., Libertyville. The funeral is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Burnett-Dane during the visitation.
Interment will be at St. Peter Catholic Cemetery in Skokie.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Disabled American Veterans organization at dav.org.