Rolling Meadows attorney comes full circle
Miriam E. Cooper, a Rolling Meadows attorney who made the Illinois Super Lawyers list for the fifth time, stepped down from the school board at Northwest Suburban High School District 214, where she enjoyed making decisions on behalf of children.
Children became a running thread throughout her career, as it led from studying art in Paris to graduating from Northeastern University with a bachelor's degree in art and history and being certified to teach.
“I didn't get a teaching job right away. I instead worked at a commercial credit company, then taught for a couple of years,” said Cooper, 66, who lives in Arlington Heights.
As fate would have it, she was lured back to the commercial credit company, met her husband who was a commercial credit manager at another company. She found herself dealing a lot with distressed clients over the years. But each time, she had to hand their files over to a lawyer to handle. That made her think about her own abilities to handle such cases and her future. She decided to become a lawyer.
At 34, she went to John Marshall Law School. To help save money during those years, she sewed her own suits and clothes for her daughter. Despite her crazy schedule, her love for art remained and she still painted.
She graduated from law school, worked with a bankruptcy judge and then switched to an Arlington Heights law firm. She opened her own firm in 1989 and continues to practice family law, helping kids in divorce cases. She feels like everything has come full circle. She's dealing with kids again, just like she did as a teacher and volunteer at District 214.
And her paintings hang on the walls in her office.
Vet publishes book
Mondrian R. Contreras, owner of Carol Stream Animal Hospital, has published his new illustrated children's book, “The Incredible Life of Dory,” about the life of a greyhound that inspires children to be generous, compassionate and determined.
Financial exec on rugby team
Corey B Quaglia of Elmhurst appreciates tackling new opportunities both professionally and personally. When he's not leading a team of college financial representatives at the Oak Brook financial planning office of Northwestern Mutual Chicago, he's playing with the Chicago Griffins, a rugby team.
FastTracks
• Sara Davis-Zapata of Wauconda has been named general manager of the Marriott AC Hotel Chicago Downtown and will be responsible for all hotel operations at the 226-room property. She was previously in the same position at the Raffaello Hotel in Chicago.
• Angelo Christopher was promoted to general superintendent and Heath Yarger to project manager at Des Plaines-based The Missner Group.
• Kevin Kwilinski is the new CEO at Fort Dearborn Co., an Elk Grove Village supplier of prime labels for consumers goods. He was the former CEO of Paperworks Industries, a privately held recycled paperboard packaging company. He replaces Jim Buzzard, who will become the nonexecutive chairman of Fort Dearborn's board of directors.
• Anthony Guzzetta is the new senior vice president of external wholesaler at Inland Securities Corp., the Oak Brook-based dealer-manager and placement agent for real estate investment programs sponsored by Inland Real Estate Investment Corp. and Inland Private Capital Corp.
• Jeremy Graveen of Elburn was appointed director of renewable energy for Henkels & McCoy Inc.'s central region in Batavia.
• Toni Chiovatero, a studio manager in the Oak Brook office of Interior Architecture is relocating to the firm's recently-opened downtown Chicago office to take a leadership role in the office's growth and management.
• Broker associates Cathy Henricks, Kristie Ptaszek and Dave Anthony have all joined the Randall Road Baird & Warner real estate office in Carpentersville.
• Dan Brosseau, owner of Two Maids & A Mop of Naperville, said his company has teamed up with Cleaning For A Reason, an international nonprofit serving women with cancer. Two Maids will provide a free house cleaning to women with cancer.
• There's more to business than just the bottom line. We want to tell you about the people who make business work. Send news about people in business to akukec@dailyherald.com. Follow Anna Marie Kukec on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter.