DuPage mourning longtime health board president Linda Kurzawa

From fighting to get radioactive thorium removed from West Chicago to leading efforts to improve public health services, Linda Kurzawa left an indelible mark on DuPage County, friends and colleagues say.

Kurzawa, a former county board member and longtime health board president, died Sunday following a battle with cancer. She was 66.

On Tuesday, the DuPage County Health Department issued a statement saying the Winfield resident was "a passionate advocate and public health leader."

Kurzawa had served as president of the DuPage County Board of Health since 1999.

"Linda Kurzawa was an extraordinary public servant who was committed to her family and the community," said Karen Ayala, executive director of the health department. "She brought both a vision and a business model to the health department that will serve DuPage County residents for years to come.

"Beyond her work, though, we are all better off because of the person that Linda was, and the fact that she shared herself with us," Ayala said. "Together, we lost a leader and a friend."

Kurzawa launched her community involvement in 1987 as a member of the Thorium Action Group. She was instrumental in achieving the cleanup of radioactive thorium in West Chicago and the surrounding area.

In 1992, Kurzawa was elected to serve on the county board when members also served on the county forest preserve commission. She remained on the county board until 2010.

She represented District 6, which includes all or parts of Aurora, Bartlett, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Glendale Heights, Hanover Park, Naperville, Roselle, St. Charles, Warrenville, Wayne, West Chicago, Wheaton and Winfield.

County board member Jim Zay said Kurzawa was "a go-getter" willing to tackle any issue.

"She never took 'no' for an answer," said Zay, who served with Kurzawa for 11 years. "There was always a way to get something done."

He said Kurzawa believed in compromise and worked with both sides of the aisle.

During her time on the county board, Kurzawa held the position of chairwoman for the county health and human services committee.

County board member Jim Healy said she was "phenomenally nice" and cared for everyone in the county.

"She was like a mother to many of us on the board," said Healy, adding that Kurzawa would provide guidance to less experienced members.

"Linda would tell you exactly the way it was," he said. "But she would do it in a very kind way."

In her role as president of the health board, Kurzawa established a progressive vision and strategic business plan to ensure the sustainability of public health programming in DuPage, officials said.

Under her guidance, officials said, the health department underwent a financial evolution that allowed it to save for and build the recently renamed Linda A. Kurzawa Community Center without assuming debt. The facility, which provides mental health services in a stigma-free environment, opened in October 2015.

An avid supporter of the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention Program, Kurzawa was honored as a "Local Hero" by BMW for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in 2007, officials said.

County board Chairman Dan Cronin said Kurzawa was devoted to getting good things done for the community. As a result, she "left an indelible mark."

"She had a wonderful life," Cronin said. "She helped a lot of people. The world is a better place because of her."

Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Linda A. Kurzawa Community Center, 115 N. County Farm Road, in Wheaton.

A funeral Mass will be at 9:30 a.m. Friday at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Winfield. Burial will be at Assumption Cemetery in Wheaton.