Remembering those we've lost: Notable suburbanites who died in 2023
Among the notable personalities we've lost from the suburbs this year are elected officials, humanitarians, a best-selling author and other standouts who helped shape the communities in which we live.
Lin Brehmer
Jan. 22: Brehmer, 68, a beloved WXRT 93.1-FM radio host and rock ’n’ roll poet laureate, died after battling cancer. He joined the adult alternative station as music director in 1984 and began a lengthy stint as its morning man in 1991, later shifting to midday.
Edward J. Buss
Feb. 23: Buss, a former McHenry County Board chairman, died after a long career as a county leader and operating Buss Ford, the dealership his father started in McHenry. He was 93. He began his political career in 1963 and ran as an independent for the McHenry County Board. He later joined the Republican Party and served on the county board for 25 years, retiring in 1988 after spending the last four as board chairman.
Joan Marie Wester Anderson
March 1: The Arlington Heights author rose to national fame and became known as the "angel lady" for her books about angels and miracles. Anderson, 84, wrote more than two dozen books. "Where Angels Walk: True Stories of Heavenly Visitors" was Anderson's 1993 breakout that spent 55 weeks on The New York Times best sellers list.
Mark Einwich
March 7: Einwich, a retired fire department deputy chief, died of cancer. He was 55. Einwich retired in November 2022 after 30 years of service in Geneva. He began his fire service career at Pingree Grove, later volunteering at the Burlington Fire Department before becoming a dispatcher for the Kane County sheriff’s office. After serving as an Elburn police officer, Einwich returned to the fire service at Geneva, rising to the rank of deputy chief in 2012.
Michael Gaeta
May 21: The 10-year Hoffman Estates village trustee was known for his love of public service. “Michael loved people,” Mayor William McLeod said of the late village leader. “He loved meeting people and serving the people of Hoffman Estates. He was always upbeat, always positive.” Gaeta was 86.
Mary Sue Link Didier
June 11: The matriarch of the family that owns Didier Farms near Lincolnshire was one of the last links to the area’s agricultural roots. Her great-grandfather, Bernard Theobald, was a German immigrant whose homestead was at the corner of what is now Deerfield Parkway and Route 83. The Prairie View resident was 98.
Patrick Gasienica
June 12: Gasienica, a 24-year-old Olympian from McHenry, died from injuries he suffered in a motorcycle accident. Gasienica grew up ski jumping at the Norge Ski Club in Fox River Grove. He made his International Ski and Snowboard Federation debut in 2015 and competed for the USA in the 2016 and 2017 Junior World Ski Championships. Gasienica was one of three Norge ski jumpers who represented the U.S. in the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Jim Goebbert
June 17: Goebbert bought a 40-acre farm in South Barrington in 1972 that would become Goebbert's Farm & Garden Center. A year later, his children started selling pumpkins, a tradition that grew into the farm's famed annual fall festival. The Huntley resident was 94.
Eric Von Schaumburg
June 18: A former standout athlete at Schaumburg High School, Eric Von Schaumburg publicly fought a courageous, decade-long battle with ALS before his death at age 39. Von Schaumburg kept a blog detailing his battle with the incurable disease at fightlikeachampion.org/blog through 2016. A March 2022 entry announced he had lost his ability to communicate, but not his fighting spirit.
Scheketa Hart-Burns
June 19: The Aurora alderman, 68, died of complications from surgery. Hart-Burns was the city's first Black alderman, and served for 32 years, representing residents on the east side. "She opened doors so I can sit here as mayor, the first Black mayor the city has seen in over 180 years," Mayor Richard Irvin said. Hart-Burns established a ward committee, apartment tenant councils and community gardens; started the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon; and founded the annual Back-to-School Bash at Martin Luther King Park.
John Edgar “Jack” Seitz
July 10: The longtime Des Plaines resident served as aldermen and then mayor in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, He joined the city council in 1967. He was twice elected mayor, holding the post from 1981 to 1989. Seitz was 92.
Rocky Lopez
Aug. 9: Lopez of Lake in the Hills was killed in a motorcycle crash in West Dundee. Formerly of Elgin, Lopez was known as an actor and for his tortillas. A mural was painted in downtown Elgin shortly after the crash honoring Lopez, who was 53. His tortilleria closed before the COVID pandemic, but he was remembered for his handmade tortillas and quirky social media videos. A truck driver, Lopez had a passion for acting and picked up roles in movies including “Concrete Rose” and “Blood Bound.”
Willis Johnson
Aug. 16: Johnson of Downers Grove died at age 86. He was known for saving beloved theaters across the suburbs. The co-founder of the Classic Cinemas theater chain got his “accidental” start in the business in 1978 when he took over the iconic Tivoli Theater in downtown Downers Grove. Johnson also was a "relentless volunteer" and was named Downers Grove Citizen of the Year in 2010.
Kenneth Ramsey
Aug. 19: Former Kane County Sheriff Kenneth Ramsey died at age 75. He served from 1994 to 2006. In retirement, he became a Roman Catholic deacon, serving at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Batavia.
Linda Jackson
Aug. 30: Former Glendale Heights Village President Linda Jackson died at age 74. She was president from 2001 to 2021, and a village trustee for 10 years before that. One of her proudest achievements was the opening of a spacious senior citizen center in 2010. The building is being renamed in her honor.
Robert Collins
Sept. 27: Music was central to Collins, principal at Hawthorn Middle School North in Vernon Hills-based Hawthorn Elementary District 73 and a member of the Wauconda Unit District 118 school board. He sang in church choirs, weddings and concert venues, and taught music and choir for many years before joining District 73 administration as associate principal in 2008. Collins was named Lake County Principal of the Year in 2018.
Robert Shaw
Oct. 21: Robert Shaw was a Vernon Hills village board member from 1965 to 1969, including two years as mayor pro tem. The commercial lighting salesman was among the early leaders credited with creating a template for development. He moved to Vernon Hills when the population was less than 200 and lived in the same home on Greenbrier Lane before retiring to Florida in 1994. He died at age 91 after an accidental fall in Fox Lake.
Michael Edward Coppedge
Nov. 13: The McHenry County associate judge died after suffering a cardiac arrest in his chambers in Woodstock. Coppedge, of Crystal Lake, was called a brilliant legal mind and hard-working jurist. A former Crystal Lake attorney, he was selected as an associate judge in 2015.
Gerald “Skip” Farley
Nov. 13: The longest-serving mayor in Mount Prospect history, Gerald “Skip” Farley, 92, spent 16 years at the helm, helping lead the community through a period of growth and change. He also spent 10 years as a village trustee.
Orrin Brand/Mike Jackson
Nov. 15: Best known by his pen name, Mike Jackson, Orrin Brand was the outdoors columnist for the Daily Herald from 1986 through 2020. The Buffalo Grove resident also hosted a weekly fishing radio program for more than 40 years. He was 79.
Glenn Ryback
Nov. 19: Wadsworth Village President Glenn Ryback died at age 71. Ryback served the village for 30 years starting in 1993 when he was appointed to the village board. He became village president in 2007 and was the longest serving village president in Wadsworth's history. He owned and operated his own real estate business.
James “Pate” Philip
Nov. 21: A suburban powerbroker and the last Republican to lead the Illinois Senate, Philip, 93, was described as a “larger-than-life” figure and practitioner of old-school politics. The Wood Dale resident was a mentor, strong advocate for DuPage County and public servant for nearly four decades.
The Rev. Bernie Pietrzak
Nov. 29: The beloved pastor of two suburban parishes — St. Anne Catholic Church in Barrington at the time of his death and St. Raymond de Penafort Parish in Mount Prospect earlier in his priesthood — the Rev. Bernie Pietrzak was dedicated to helping others grow in their spirituality. He led schools at both parishes. He was 68.
Tim Dunn
Nov. 30: As a high school teacher, coach, town historian and Barrington village trustee, Dunn, 72, served his hometown in just about every way imaginable. Dunn served eight years on the village board.
Marian Sanfilippo
Dec. 3: A prominent philanthropist, Marian Sanfilippo and her late husband, Jasper, made their stunning Barrington Hills estate available for fundraisers hosted by numerous charitable organizations. Women's and children's organizations were among the first recipients of the couple's generosity. She died at home at age 88.
William “Bill” Keck
Dec. 12: Keck, who served as Kane County auditor for 20 years, died at age 84. A Sugar Grove resident and lifelong Republican, Keck was a five-term auditor from 1992 to 2012.
Joe Wars
Dec. 13: A longtime Elgin resident, Wars left a legacy of service to his community, including leading the city’s annual MLK food drive. Wars also served on the board of directors of the Elgin Boys & Girls Club, the Elgin Human Relations Commission and the city’s Image and Advisory Committee. In 2017, he received Elgin’s Dr. King Legacy Award.