Beloved Libertyville High School staffer loses cancer fight

Trudy Kulefsky was part of that rare breed of people who make those around them better for having been there, friends say.

“Pretty much when she walked in a room it was her room. Very, very funny. Very, very smart, said Eric Maroscher, assistant principal at Libertyville High School.

While the teachers and administrators at LHS are used to taking care of students' needs, it was they who needed consolation from a grief counselor on the loss of a beloved co-worker.

Kulefsky of Grayslake, died Sunday, a day after her 64th birthday. She was hired in 1990 as a clerical aide in the attendance office and became well known in the district. For the last eight years, she had been Maroscher's secretary and was named the school's 2008 staff member of the year.

“Legendary. Everyone knows Trudy, he said.

She learned she had leukemia, a potentially deadly cancer of the blood or bone marrow, after participating in the school's annual wellness screening last March. She was hospitalized and started chemotherapy within a few weeks.

Co-workers rallied to her cause and hosted a bone marrow drive in early June.

Maroscher said she ultimately succumbed to the ravaging side effects of the treatment.

“Trudy was not one to shy away from a challenge, he said. “There's only so much fight a person has. Even with that, she just kept going and going.

Kulefsky loved the Cubs and chocolate and had a sharp wit and natural poise, Maroscher added.

“She was one of those people who made her job look easy when it was really complex, he said.

Her diagnosis had hit staffers hard because she ate right, exercised and appeared healthy. Kulefsky said she fought her illness with dignity and grace.

District administrative office staff manned phones Wednesday so LHS employees could attend the service at Chicago Jewish Funerals Chapel in Buffalo Grove. Survivors include her husband, Robert; a son and daughter and two grandchildren.

Maroscher said he had many favorite stories. He remembered Kulefsky as the “queen of zingers for her sarcastic sense of humor.

“When you've got somebody so full of life and fight and energy, everybody expects her to walk in the door, and we know that won't happen, he said. “It's just surreal.