Libertyville’s Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter awards Community Service Award
The Ansel Brainerd Cook Chapter NSDAR recently presented the DAR Community Service Award to Nicholas Konz.
The DAR Community Service Award is awarded to an individual or organization who has contributed to the community in an outstanding manner. This can be through voluntary heroic, civic or benevolent service, or by organizing or participating in community activities.
Konz is an Army veteran having served three years from 1963-66. He is one of the most active volunteers for veterans in Lake County. What gives him a passion for helping veterans is inequalities he witnessed while serving; he thinks every veteran should receive services if it is needed.
Konz is currently the president of the Veterans Assistance Commission of Lake County. Lake County has 45,000 veterans and 31 veteran organizations. Members of each of these organizations have one delegate to the commission that meets quarterly. It is funded by the county for emergency assistance for veterans.
Konz has been a member of the Mundelein American Legion Post 867 for 62 years. He has served as chaplain and has held other offices. He is currently the service officer. In this capacity, he offers insight to the post based on his many years of experience. He also organizes the honor guard and goes to cemeteries or wakes if the family requests it. Konz, with his wife, Nancy, are poppy chairmen; they put the poppies together for Memorial Day and Konz finds people to help distribute them.
Konz is the organizer of the veterans at Saddlebrook Farms where he lives. When he moved there in 2011, he realized there was no organization for the veterans, so he started one and still chairs their monthly meetings. Over the years, Konz has arranged for interesting guest speakers and has conducted American flag retirement services.
Konz has been a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Council at the Veterans Administration for a very long time.
One of the programs near and dear to Konz’s heart is “No Veteran Dies Alone.” When a veteran is terminally ill, Nick visits them as long as they need him. The protocol for this is sitting next to their bed, holding the person’s hand, and talking to them. Sometimes it involves family members talking to him also. This is tough duty and not everyone can be with those in their last moments, but Konz is there for them. Why does Konz do it? “Because it needs doing,” he said.
At the conclusion of the presentation of the awards, Konz was also presented with a beautiful patriotic Quilt of Valor. This presentation was made by Sharon Wick and Beverly Chatfield from the Quilt of Valor Sewing Circle in Lake Villa.
The DAR is a nonprofit, nonpolitical volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting patriotism, preserving American history, and securing America’s future through better education. Membership is open to any woman 18 years or older who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who served the cause of American independence.
The Ansel Brainerd Cook chapter in Libertyville is celebrating its 49th year. Organized in 1977 by 17 members, it has now grown to include more than 185 members. In 2025, the ABC chapter members logged in over 6,800 volunteer hours in the towns they work and live in. For more information, visit ildar.org/chapters/anselbrainerdcook or email ABC4DAR@gmail.com
For more information about the Veterans Assistance Commission, visit vaclc.org. For more information about the Quilts of Valor, visit qovf.org.