Neighbors in the News: Libertyville mortgage originator earns Top 1% accolade
Jan Leasure, division president of Diamond Residential Mortgage in Libertyville, was recognized among the top 1% of mortgage originators in the United States. The Top 1% accolade was published in the summer 2021 issue of "Mortgage Executive."
To qualify, originators must close more than $30 million in loans in a 12-month period, with those numbers coming solely from their own production and not through office assistants.
Leasure previously spent two decades teaching junior high, then 10 as a college instructor. She also worked as a licensed Realtor for 10 years and wrote a syndicated column called $uper $aver for 25.
"It was such a difficult year for everyone," Leasure said of 2020, the year for which she was recognized. "I was shocked to receive notice of the Top 1 % honor."
•
College of DuPage student Thomas Oleksy of Hanover Park was named a 2021 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholar. One of only 200 Phi Theta Kappa members nationwide to earn this honor, Oleksy will receive a $1,000 scholarship.
The Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship Program helps new Phi Theta Kappa members defray educational expenses while enrolled in associate degree programs. Scholars are selected based on scholastic achievement, community service and leadership potential.
Oleksy left a 30-year career in the service industry to enroll in classes at COD to study marketing, management and accounting. After graduating with his Associate of Applied Science degree next spring, he hopes to work in the human resources field.
•
Dr. Shobhit Minhas, a fellowship trained hand and wrist orthopedic surgeon, has joined the team of physicians at Fox Valley Orthopedics. He will see patients at Fox Valley Orthopedics' Algonquin, Barrington and Elgin locations.
Dr. Minhas received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and completed his residency at NYU Langone Medical Center/Hospital for Joint Diseases, New York.
He is a Fellow at the Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and a member of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Society of Surgery of the Hand and Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society.
• Art Fessler has returned to Elgin Area School District U-46 to serve as the interim principal of Eastview Middle School in Bartlett for the 2021-22 school year.
Fessler, who began his teaching career in U-46 as a teacher at Elgin's Grand Elementary School, most recently served for eight years as superintendent of Elk Grove Township School District 59.
Prior to that, he served as superintendent of Oak Lawn-Hometown District 123 from 2010 to 2013. Before becoming a superintendent, he worked for Barrington Public Schools as a middle school principal and assistant superintendent over middle and high schools.
Fessler holds a bachelor's degree in elementary education from Judson University, a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from Concordia University, and a doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
• Submit 'Neighbors in the News' items to ntwohey@dailyherald.com.