Popular, retired superintendent of Marquardt District 15 dies at 77

Services will be held this week for Lawrence J. Golden, a popular former superintendent of Marquardt District 15 in Glendale Heights, whose legacy was further enriched when he changed his mind on his plan to retire in 1995, staying on as the district's top administrator for another six years.

Visitation for the 77-year-old educator will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Salerno's Rosedale Chapels, 450 W. Lake St. in Roselle.

Services for Golden will be held at Holy Family Catholic Church, 2515 Palatine Road in Inverness, from 9:30 a.m. Wednesday until the start of his funeral Mass at 10:30 a.m.

Interment will take place at St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery in Palatine.

Golden was 53 years old and on the verge of retirement when he altered course and told his school board he preferred to remain. His incentive for both decisions was an early retirement option from the state that was first due to expire in 1995 and then extended for several more years.

"I like what I do," Golden told the Daily Herald at the time. "I like working with these people. I had no thought of taking any other job in either business or education."

When his retirement did finally come at the end of the 2000-2001 school year, District 15's then board president Marie Schmidt recalled how difficult its anticipation had been six years earlier.

"As we started our (superintendent) search, we asked every parent group what they wanted in a new superintendent," Schmidt then said. "The answer was overwhelmingly 'Larry Golden.'"

The day after his actual retirement in 2001, District 15 renamed its Marquardt Middle School Sixth Grade Center the Lawrence J. Golden Sixth Grade Center.

Golden joined District 15 as a language arts teacher for sixth, seventh and eighth grades at Marquardt Junior High in 1967.

He later served for three years as a junior high guidance counselor and became principal of Hall Elementary School in 1973.

He was transferred to Marquardt Middle School when it was built in 1976 and became superintendent of the district in 1982.

During the years immediately after his retirement, Golden served as a consultant in helping school districts - including District 15 - review their goals.

He is survived by his wife, Rosalyn, two nieces and a nephew, and many great-grandnephews and nieces.

For more information about his services, call (630) 889-1700 or visit salernofuneralhomes.com.