Lake County flags lowered to honor Audrey Nixon
Lake County flags at all county government facilities have been lowered to half-staff to honor longtime county board member Audrey Nixon, who died this week.
Additionally, memorial bunting will hang at Nixon's seat in the county boardroom in Waukegan and on her usual chair at Tuesday's law and judicial committee meeting. Nixon led that committee for years.
Nixon, 81, was found dead in her North Chicago house Thursday. She had been ill.
A Democrat, Nixon had represented the 14th District on the county board and the Lake County Forest Preserve District board since 1982. She was the longest-serving member of both panels, which consist of the same members.
Funeral arrangements are pending, but a service likely will be held next weekend, a Lake County spokeswoman said.
Other memorials, including a resolution to be read at an upcoming board meeting, are in the works, the official said.
Democrats and Republicans who worked with Nixon on the county board or on various community issues were saddened by her passing.
"She was like a mother to me," said Lake County Board member Mary Ross Cunningham, a Waukegan Democrat. "I admired her because she always treated people with dignity and respect, and she led with her heart."
Lake County Forest Preserve District board President Ann B. Maine called Nixon "a true public servant."
"It was truly an honor to have known and worked with Audrey for 16 years," said Maine, a Lincolnshire Republican. "She had a beautiful combination of gracious fierceness."