Ramig recognized for contributions to DuPage-Will Hadassah

Sheila Fisher remembers when fellow members of DuPage-Will Hadassah approached Robin Ramig about becoming president of the Jewish women's Zionist organization a few years ago.

Ramig, a busy working mother of two young daughters, told them she already had decided to run.

"Robin recognized that it was her time," Fisher said. "Hadassah across the United States is in need of what we call our young leaders."

Ramig, whose three-year term as president ended last May, was recognized earlier this month for her contributions to Hadassah, the Jewish community and the community at large with DuPage-Will Hadassah's Woman of Valor award.

The Warrenville resident said she is carrying on a family tradition. She is a third generation member of Hadassah and her mother was a founder of the DuPage-Will chapter more than 30 years ago.

"I became president on the 30th anniversary of my mother becoming the first president of the chapter," Ramig said. "She was actually there to install me as president."

Growing up, Ramig worked on Hadassah bake sales, fashion shows and garage sales. After she was old enough to become a full member, she served on various committees and a two-year stint as treasurer.

When Ramig took over the leadership of the organization, she said she recognized it needed fresh blood.

"Our chapter was very much my mother's generation," she said. "There weren't as many young people so that's one of the things I really focused on."

Ramig successfully added activities to attract younger women. Membership in the DuPage-Will chapter increased 5 percent while she was president, with more members joining who were Ramig's age or younger.

During her presidency, DuPage-Will Hadassah also received regional awards for best all-around small chapter in 2006-07, and for best newsletter in 2005-06 and 2007-08. Members met and exceeded fundraising goals set by the national organization.

"People were happy to work with her and for her," said her mother, Elaine Beyer of Wheaton, who remains active in the 180-member chapter. "She was an excellent president."

Ramig said Hadassah contributes some of its fundraising to the local community, but it's main purpose is to help support the two Hadassah hospitals in Israel. It's not unusual for the hospitals to treat both terrorists and their victims, she said.

"Literally Hadassah hospitals help anyone regardless," she said. "No matter what religion, no matter what race."

Ramig said she considers her own involvement with Hadassah a duty and an outreach.

"It's something that needs doing. There's not a very large Jewish presence in the Western suburbs so being involved in any kind of Jewish activity out here is important if only to spread information," she said.

One of the activities Ramig said she has enjoyed most is the Hanukkah Bazaar the chapter has at Congregation Beth Shalom in Naperville because the event touches the larger community.

"A lot of the vendors are non-Jewish so it helped to give them a new perspective," she said.

Ramig is used to being in the minority. When she was growing up in DuPage County, she and her brother were among three Jews in their 1,100-student high school. While the Jewish population is still very much in the minority, it has increased, she said.

"Naperville certainly has a larger Jewish presence than anywhere else in this area," she said.

An active member of Congregation Beth Shalom, Ramig has been a Sunday school teacher there and serves on the committee that brings meals to members of the congregation who are sick or going through difficulties.

When her daughters, Mackenzie, 16, and Hayley, 11, were younger, she served as a Girl Scout leader, room mom and library volunteer in their school.

She remarried this past summer and now has four stepsons in the family - three of them teenagers living at home.

Ramig seems to take her expanded family in stride.

"Watching the kids learn from each other and grow has been amazing," she said. "It's also wonderful because when someone needs help with homework, someone in the house has taken the class."

Keeping up with the activities of a husband and five young people might seem like a challenge, but Ramig said she's always been able to juggle different roles.

"I'm definitely an organizer. I've been in the business world a long time," said Ramig, who now works in the corporate office of a cosmetics company.

"I've been a store manager. I've been a district trainer. I've been a teacher, plus mom," she said. "I've had a lot of hats to wear."

Ramig brings those same organizational skills and energy to her work with Hadassah, Fisher said.

"She's a very good model for teenagers and other young women that if you decide you want to do something, it can be done," she said.

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