Schaumburg P.E.O. celebrates a 50-year member
Barbara Kay knows a little about the challenges of moving to a new area of the country. Growing up, her family lived in three different states: Illinois, New York and Iowa. As an adult, she also moved to new areas several times. Her transitions to living in new communities went smoothly, though, because when she was living in Collinsville, Illinois, in 1976, she joined P.E.O., Philanthropic Educational Organization, a nonprofit organization for women.
“I had met some wonderful women in Collinsville,” she said, “and when they told me they were in P.E.O., I told them my mother was also a P.E.O!” She decided to continue the family legacy by joining the organization.
Once a P.E.O., always a P.E.O. Barb (as her friends call her) transferred her membership several times when she moved to Hoffman Estates, then Pinehurst, North Carolina, and finally back to Schaumburg. With each move, she found a community of new loving and supportive P.E.O. friends.
Always an active member of P.E.O., in which she has held every office (sometimes more than once), this year Kay is celebrating her Golden Anniversary. On June 12, the Schaumburg P.E.O. Chapter P-LK honored Kay with a luncheon at 810 Entertainment in South Barrington. She was also recognized for her long membership at the P.E.O. State Convention in May.
P.E.O. has been an integral part of her life outside of her professional life as a career nurse, as well as her private life as a wife and mother of two, and now grandmother to five grandchildren. She continues to help her local chapter by hosting meetings and serving on committees.
“There have been many changes to P.E.O. over the years, to make it more meaningful to younger women,” she said, “but the focus of assisting women in educational pursuits still exists. One of the things I value is being able to associate with women who have a common goal.”
In addition to Barb Kay, the Schaumburg P.E.O. chapter recognized two members with 55 years of service: Mary Hengels and Ann Moorman. The chapter has 10 other members who have been active in the organization for 50 years or more: Sally Hedenberg (1963); Marcia Thayer (1964); Marcia Kissamis (1965); Deanna Skog (1965); Kathy Bonham (1966); Melissa Ramoley (1968); Carol Bingham (1974); Penelope Samuelson (1974); Marcy Schilling (1974); and Beverly McIntyre (1975).
For more information on P.E.O. and its mission to celebrate the advancement of women, through scholarships, grants, awards and loans, and motivate women to achieve their highest aspirations, go to peointernational.org. All women who are age 17 or older are welcome to join.