Longtime Elgin clerk, public servant dies at 100
When longtime Elgin city clerk Myrtle Spiegler Gerberding wrote Christmas cards, she would always say a prayer for the card's recipient.
The lifelong Elgin resident would tell her family - some who groused about the task - that the prayer made writing Christmas cards more pleasant.
Those lessons are the kinds of memories relatives like step-daughter Lois Bendick have of the 100-year-old Gerberding, who died a few days before Christmas.
"We learned from her what we should be like, who we should be and how to think for ourselves," Bendick, 70, of Elgin said. "Myrtle was a big example of a strong woman for all of the women in this family."
Despite suffering from progressive dementia in the last years of her life, Gerberding remained a shining spirit for family and friends, relatives said.
"No matter if she knew who you were, or not, she would always say, 'I am so glad you came,' and when you left, she would say, 'It was so nice to have you here'," Bendick said. "She always had words of encouragement for people."
Gerberding became elgin's first female city clerk of in 1955 and remained in the role for about 12 years. In that time, Gerberding fashioned the city's official flag - the city's seal on a white banner - which still flies over city hall.
Mike Alft, a former city mayor and local historian who worked with Gerberding from 1963 to 1971, described her as a true professional, conscientious and very bright.
"She had a great sense of humor, which you have to have if you work for city hall," Alft said. "I appreciated her common sense, honesty and humor. You can't ask for more from a government employee than that."
Alft said although Gerberding never vocalized her dislike for particular council members, he could always tell which ones she disliked because she would crinkle her nose, he said.
"She was very balanced," Alft said.
Before taking on the role of city clerk, Gerberding worked for the city's water department where she hand-wrote water bills and introduced a program to help people pay for service during the Depression.
"If she hadn't needed to go to work, she would have gone to college and become a teacher," Bendick said of the valedictorian of the 1927 class at Elgin High School. "She was so intelligent, so gentle."
Her dedication to public service earned her a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Elgin YWCA in 1993. The award later was renamed the Myrtle Spiegler Gerberding Award for Public Service.
On Nov. 18, 2009, days before Gerberding's 100th birthday, the city of Elgin made a proclamation for the Myrtle Spiegler Gerberding Day, while the Illinois House of Representatives approved a resolution acknowledging Gerberding's milestone birthday.
A memorial service for Gerberding is planned for 11 a.m. Saturday at the First United Methodist Church in Elgin. She is survived by two stepchildren, eight grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, 11 great-great-grandchildren and two nieces.