Elegy for five fine suburban women

Virginia B. Macdonald of Arlington Heights was laid to rest yesterday. Before her, there was Adeline J. Geo-Karis of Zion. And Giddy Dyer of Hinsdale. And well before that there was Eugenia Chapman of Arlington Heights and Grace Mary Stern of Highland Park.

If you have lived in the suburbs a long time, you know those names and you are richer for it.

If you haven't lived in the suburbs long, you might not know those names, but you should. You should learn them. You should understand who those people were and what they contributed.

All of those women were public servants who worked in the Illinois General Assembly with honor and grace. Several of them served for decades. Yes, they were politicians. Some Republicans, some Democrats. It was and is far too easy to lump politicians together and insist they all must be phony and full of themselves.

These women were neither. They were genuine and giving. To their constituents and to their communities and to many reporters at this newspaper who bothered them at all hours of many long days and nights.

But it is not just because they let us into their homes and answered our questions that we remember them today.

They did important things that should never be overlooked or forgotten.

When Macdonald served as a delegate to the Illinois Constitutional Convention in 1970 she helped draft the Illinois Bill of Rights that banned discrimination in housing and hiring based on race, color, creed, ancestry and gender.

At services for her this week, admirers recalled that she really did survey her constituents and enlisted her beloved husband, Alan, and children to help her count how her constituents viewed an issue. Among her many contributions, she fought for the Equal Rights Amendment and succeeded in pushing for laws that required hospitals to safely dispose of nonradioactive medical waste.

She also worked to bring Lake Michigan water to the Northwest suburbs and to create property tax caps for the suburbs.

Dyer helped pass DuPage County's first air pollution control ordinance. Geo-Karis and Stern were among the first women to run for statewide office. Geo-Karis was a lawyer, a former Zion mayor and a lieutenant commander in the Naval Reserves who often spoke to high school students. Stern championed civil rights, mental health coverage and improved voting access.

Chapman, who ran for Congress, introduced the bill in Springfield that established the state's community college system. She helped found Harper College in Palatine back in 1969.

Chapman, a Democrat, and Macdonald, a Republican, together helped found a Women's Center at Harper shortly after it opened.

These five suburban women were true public servants. They were pioneers who blazed trails that helped each of us. Their passing marks the end of an era we all should mourn.