Fundraiser to help suburban girls whose mom died in rafting accident
Every year, Emily and Faythe Mayer would help their mother ready her first-grade classroom at St. Mary Catholic School in DeKalb.
Jennifer Wehling always used Mary Engelbreit borders, cutouts and posters -- the artist's bright, nostalgic renderings featuring children about the age of Wehling's students.
But Emily and Faythe won't be returning to help with their mother's classroom ever again.
Wehling, of DeKalb, died in a rafting accident on the Vermillion River in downstate Ogelsby June 25, just days after school let out. The trip was supposed to be an end-of-year celebration.
According to the news release by the Illinois Conservation Police, Wehling and two friends were thrown overboard when their raft got stuck in the boil at the base of a dam. Wehling was pulled under by the turbulent water and unable to escape. Her friends, both of whom survived, have since been charged with unlawful operation of a watercraft while under the influence of alcohol.
Emily, 18, who had just graduated from Aurora Central Catholic High School, tried to call her mom several times that afternoon on her cell phone.
It wasn't like her not to pick up.
Someone from Illinois Valley Community Hospital in Peru called Wehling's mother, Lynne. Jennifer had been in an accident.
Jennifer's sister, Beth Lipinski, drove up from Bartlett to meet her mother and Emily and 15-year-old Faythe. They made their way to the hospital together, hoping for the best but fearing the worst.
Wehling, as family and friends knew, was as tough and resilient as they came. The 36-year-old had spent most of her life overcoming obstacles.
Growing up on Elgin's northeast side, her parents divorced when she was just 5. Emily was born when she was just 18, Faythe at 22.
When the girls were very young, the single mother baby-sat in a DeKalb apartment she shared with her sister to earn money.
She was determined, however, to go back to school, and earned a teaching degree from Northern Illinois University. She began teaching at St. Mary's in 2001.
School Principal Patricia Weis described Wehling as "loved by everyone. The children were her life. Her own children and the schoolchildren, too."
At Wehling's funeral Mass July 1 were many of her first-graders, dressed in their plaid school uniforms, clutching their parents' hands.
The sole caretaker and guardian of her daughters, Wehling worked three jobs - in addition to teaching, she served as a special needs counselor at Camp Maple Leaf in DeKalb and worked at Lowe's - to keep Emily and Faythe in Catholic school. Wehling, prone to headaches, was often tired from working so much, but never let it stop her from having fun with the girls.
"It was just three of us. We had our own way of being," Emily said.
Tiny, with shoulder length blond hair, Wehling could often be mistaken for her daughters' older sister.
At restaurants, Emily was the one who was handed the bill sometimes, she remembers.
Like their mother, the girls worked - Emily at the DeKalb Park District and Faythe baby-sitting - to help with expenses.
At the time of her mother's death, Emily had recently been accepted to the University of Wisconsin at Platteville to study teaching.
Though money was tight, Wehling would to find a way to pay for college, said Gina Mayer, an aunt.
She had done it before.
After sending Emily to DeKalb High School for one year, Wehling was determined her daughter return to a Catholic school - with the communal atmosphere, service and faith lessons she had herself while at St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin.
She called Mayer, and asked for help refinancing her home to pay tuition at Aurora Central Catholic.
The high school, as well as St. Mary's, have each played a part in supporting Emily and Faythe since their mother's death.
The Rev. William Etheredge, their principal, said Wehling's funeral Mass at St. Mary's. The church donated a burial plot.
Wehling's estate left little to provide for the girls' future.
The girls are now staying with Lipinski in Bartlett, their DeKalb home to be put up for sale.
Emily is heading to Platteville and Faythe has begun her second year at Aurora Central.
Etheredge has taken care of Faythe's tuition, the school also helping arrange a carpool to get her back and forth from Bartlett, Mayer said.
Emily said that she and her sister are dealing with their mother's death in different ways.
They're not angry at her mother's friends who were on the raft that day, she insists.
They just miss their mom. "Everything about her," Emily says, blinking back tears.
Besides emotional needs, there are also big financial ones. How Emily will pay for her college tuition is unknown, Mayer said.
The girls' extended family - the aunts, uncles and cousins who have rallied around them this summer - have approached hundreds of businesses to help out with fundraisers. A fund has also been set up for Emily and Faythe at Citizens First National Bank in Hampshire.
Additionally, Mayer has gone door to door asking DeKalb businesses for help. They've had almost no response.
"I'll get it done. I will," Mayer said.
Only one - Woodstock Harley Davidson - has agreed to put on a fundraiser for the girls. Mayer, who used to ride, approached them a few weeks ago. Though all of their fundraising rides had been booked for the year, the owners agreed to squeeze in another. "Have a little Faythe and Emily ride" will take place at 10:15 a.m. Sept. 26.
"We're trying to make sure we do what she'd want," Lipinski said. "Making sure they're good girls. Good people. We want to reinforce education. Make sure they're comfortable and happy."
Have a little Faythe and Emily ride
Where: Woodstock Harley Davidson, Routes 14 and 47
When: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 26. Registration starts at 9 a.m., ride begins at 10:15 a.m.
What: 80-mile ride, lunch, live music, raffle, silent auction
Info: (815) 337-3511
To contribute
Emily and Faythe Meyer Foundation
Citizens First National Bank
819 Warner St.
Hampshire, IL 60140
Tax Exempt Number E-27-0702584
www.emilyandfaythefoundation.org
Those wishing to help with other fundraising efforts should contact Gina Mayer, mayerelectricinc@sbcglobal.net.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=303531">Ex-St. Charles woman charged in fatal rafting accident <span class="date">[06/29/09]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=303402">DeKalb teacher dies in rafting accident <span class="date">[06/28/09]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>