St. Viator mourns an important early leader
Frank Covey ~ 1932-2012
By Eileen O. Daday
Daily Herald correspondent
Every year, during senior awards night at St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, one of the last groups to be honored are students given the Frank M. Covey Jr. Award.
The award is reserved for select seniors who have given “meritorious service to St. Viator High School.”
Its description, officials say, reflects the years of service given by its namesake, Frank M. Covey, Jr., most recently of Barrington and formerly of Mount Prospect.
Covey passed away on Sunday. He was 79.
He served on St. Viator’s newly created board of trustees during the years immediately following its merger with the former Sacred Heart of Mary High School and its start as a coeducational institution. Covey was the first chairman, serving from 1988 to 1992.
“Frank was instrumental in setting a direction for the board and insuring that, as a new model of governance, the board would be successful and support the mission of St. Viator High School,” says the Rev. Robert M. Egan, president.
“He had a collaborative style and his vision has set the tone for the board leadership ever since.”
Covey brought his legal background to the role, having practiced as an attorney for 28 years with McDermott, Will & Emery in Chicago, and his role as an educator, as an adjunct professor at Loyola School of Law.
His son, Mike Covey was a student at St. Viator when his father joined its board of trustees. Beyond forming its organizational plan, Covey oversaw its early financial planning.
“As a by-product of his board leadership, he worked to create an endowment fund that would monetarily ensure its future,” Mike Covey said.
About the same time Covey joined the St. Viator board, he also returned to academia, serving as a full-time professor at Loyola Law School, where he taught torts, evidence, insurance law and professional responsibility.
He taught law students for 14 years before retiring in 2002. His support for St. Viator High School and Loyola University continued, however. At Loyola, he created the Covey Lectures, which brought internationally recognized scholars to its lakeshore campus. At St. Viator, he worked with his wife, Patricia, to endow a scholarship.
Besides his son, Covey is survived by Patricia, children Geralyn (Tony) Betts and Regis P. (Tracy) Covey; and six grandchildren.
Visitation will take place from 3-9 p.m. Friday at Friedrichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Road, Mount Prospect.
A 10 a.m. Saturday funeral Mass will be held at St. Raymond de Penafort Church, 301 I-Oka St., in Mount Prospect.