I received this from Janet Linse Evans. I thought it would be best placed here.
You have Linda Henderson on the list; however her married name is spelled incorrectly as it should be Fischer with a "c". Also, Linda is deceased, having passed in 2010. Following is just part of her story: In spring 1997, with her fraternal twin sons nearing the end of their freshman years at her alma mater, Linda Henderson Fischer ’70 learned during a routine checkup that she had a heart murmur. She went to a cardiologist, who told her she had cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes the heart to enlarge. Medication might be able to control the problem, Fischer was told, but the only solution was a heart transplant. “I had been a little more tired than usual, but that was about it,” she recalls. If a transplant was in her future, she figured it probably wouldn’t happen until she was in her 80s or 90s. She was 49 when diagnosed. For more than two years, life went on as usual for Fischer. In September 1997, the former Argus editor became assistant editor at Maintenance Technology magazine in Barrington, which is near her home in Lake in the Hills, a northwest suburb of Chicago. In October 1999, she awoke one night feeling pressure in her chest. “I was extremely uncomfortable,” she says. “The paramedics came, and I went to the hospital where they indeed confirmed I had had a minor heart attack.” Fischer underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed, but she still felt extremely sluggish afterward. Her cardiologist suggested she go to Loyola University Medical Center for a transplant evaluation. At first, Loyola’s doctors thought a steady exercise regimen and more medication might help her. She took their advice and believed the routine was working when she watched sons Eric and Kurt Fischer graduate from IWU in May 2000. About two months later, she learned otherwise. Medical test results showed her heart continuing to perform poorly. She went on the heart-transplant waiting list, receiving a pager on July 19 that would let her know if a heart became available. The next day, Fischer felt awful at work and went back to the hospital, where she was admitted. Her heart was failing badly, and she was moved up on the transplant list because of her critical condition. At 11 p.m. on July 22, the phone rang in her room. “I was trying desperately to sleep, and I was extremely upset at somebody calling me at that hour,” Fischer says. “The voice that spoke to me was one of my doctors who said, ‘Linda, I think we have a heart for you.’” She hardly could believe it. “When I went on the list, I went with the feeling that this was going to be a long-term action, that I would be on the list for a while,” she says. “I was trying not to think that most of the people on the waiting list die before they get their organs.” The all-day transplant happened on July 23, and Fischer went home a week later. Since then, she describes herself as a textbook transplant case, exercising regularly and taking about 25 pills daily to keep her body from rejecting the heart. Like all transplant recipients, she’ll take them the rest of her life. Fischer volunteers for Gift of Hope, telling her transplant story to community service groups, scout troops, and anybody else willing to listen. She walked down the aisles at her sons’ weddings, in November 2001 and March 2002, respectively, thankful that the family of the 24-year-old man who lost his life gave life to her. Fischer has written his family a couple of letters, but both sides would need to consent through Gift of Hope before they could meet. “I have a great love for life...the simple things,” says Fischer, who turned 54 in January. “I get a big kick out of watching butterflies, watching animals at the zoo. I’m not getting upset or worried about the little things. It’s just not worth it.” And another article at http://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/village-names-park-in-memory-of-local-woman-volunteer. Her obituary at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyherald/obituary.aspx?n=linda-kay-fischer&pid=138313659. Thanks.
Linda Kay Fischer was always involved in her community.
As a Lake in the Hills resident for 32 years, Fischer left her mark by serving a long list of local organizations. A mother of two young boys, Fischer and her husband, Harold, moved to Lake in the Hills in 1978, and she started lending a hand as soon after settling in.
“I met Linda when her kids were small,” said former Village Clerk Pam Hopp. “She had an adorable family, and she never hesitated to get involved. If you needed someone to do something, you asked Linda.”
Fischer died Jan. 7, 2010, at the age of 61, due to a combination of an infection and pneumonia.
But her volunteer spirit is meant to live on as the village of Lake in the Hills has decided to name a park on the Kreutzer Farmstead property, 5962 Grafton Farm Road, after her.
The Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Board voted June 9, 2011, to name Kreutzer Farm in Fischer’s honor after holding a “Name This Park” contest, which was announced in the winter brochure.
The board received more than a dozen nominating submissions, but selected Fischer because of her dedication to Lake in the Hills and one of its first parks, said Parks and Recreation Director Trudy Wakeman.
“It is my understanding that Linda Fischer was very instrumental in getting funds for Jaycee Park, located at Algonquin Road and Oak Leaf,” Wakeman said.
Linda's husband, Harold Fischer, nominated his late wife as a way to honor her. Years ago, Linda Fischer and several other residents went house to house in Lake in the Hills gathering petition signatures to form a park district.
"She was always fighting to have a park district," Harold Fischer said.
Throughout the years, Fischer volunteered for the Lake in the Hills Women’s League, Boy Scout Troop 369, Lake in the Hills Historical Society, the Miss Illinois Scholarship Association and was named an Outstanding Citizen, according to the Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Department.
After receiving a heart transplant in 2000, she volunteered for the Gift of Hope Organization, promoting organ donation in Illinois.
Years ago, Fischer stepped up and served as the village’s first information officer, providing press releases and news updates to the local media, Hopp said.
Fischer also was one of the first participants in the Lake in the Hills Citizen’s Police Academy and went on to serve as president of the academy’s Alumni Association, said Police and Public Safety Director Jim Wales.
“Linda was a model citizen,” Wales said. “She was always a professional when she would come to the village meetings. She wanted to do things for her community because she wanted to see things get done. She wasn’t looking for rewards or notoriety. Overall, she was a very dedicated citizen and a very nice, genuine person.”
In addition to her husband, Harold, Fischer is survived by her son, Eric Fischer, now 33; daughter-in-law, Katie Fischer; and three grandchildren, Nolan, Erin and Brianna.
Linda Fischer was preceded in death by her son, Kurt Fischer, who died at age 27 from a heart condition, Harold said.
Master plans for the Linda K. Fischer park call for a disc golf course, shelter and sledding hill. The village already has created 20 garden plots on the property, which are rented for $20 for Lake in the Hills residents and $30 to nonresidents. All plots are rented, Wakeman said.
The village acquired the farm, which was occupied by the Kreutzer family from 1948 to 1996, from Meadowbrook Developers, Wakeman said. Of the former 12 buildings on the site, only a round, red chicken brooder remains.
Milan Jackson
I received this from Janet Linse Evans. I thought it would be best placed here.
You have Linda Henderson on the list; however her married name is spelled incorrectly as it should be Fischer with a "c". Also, Linda is deceased, having passed in 2010. Following is just part of her story: In spring 1997, with her fraternal twin sons nearing the end of their freshman years at her alma mater, Linda Henderson Fischer ’70 learned during a routine checkup that she had a heart murmur. She went to a cardiologist, who told her she had cardiomyopathy, a condition that causes the heart to enlarge. Medication might be able to control the problem, Fischer was told, but the only solution was a heart transplant. “I had been a little more tired than usual, but that was about it,” she recalls. If a transplant was in her future, she figured it probably wouldn’t happen until she was in her 80s or 90s. She was 49 when diagnosed. For more than two years, life went on as usual for Fischer. In September 1997, the former Argus editor became assistant editor at Maintenance Technology magazine in Barrington, which is near her home in Lake in the Hills, a northwest suburb of Chicago. In October 1999, she awoke one night feeling pressure in her chest. “I was extremely uncomfortable,” she says. “The paramedics came, and I went to the hospital where they indeed confirmed I had had a minor heart attack.” Fischer underwent surgery to have a pacemaker installed, but she still felt extremely sluggish afterward. Her cardiologist suggested she go to Loyola University Medical Center for a transplant evaluation. At first, Loyola’s doctors thought a steady exercise regimen and more medication might help her. She took their advice and believed the routine was working when she watched sons Eric and Kurt Fischer graduate from IWU in May 2000. About two months later, she learned otherwise. Medical test results showed her heart continuing to perform poorly. She went on the heart-transplant waiting list, receiving a pager on July 19 that would let her know if a heart became available. The next day, Fischer felt awful at work and went back to the hospital, where she was admitted. Her heart was failing badly, and she was moved up on the transplant list because of her critical condition. At 11 p.m. on July 22, the phone rang in her room. “I was trying desperately to sleep, and I was extremely upset at somebody calling me at that hour,” Fischer says. “The voice that spoke to me was one of my doctors who said, ‘Linda, I think we have a heart for you.’” She hardly could believe it. “When I went on the list, I went with the feeling that this was going to be a long-term action, that I would be on the list for a while,” she says. “I was trying not to think that most of the people on the waiting list die before they get their organs.” The all-day transplant happened on July 23, and Fischer went home a week later. Since then, she describes herself as a textbook transplant case, exercising regularly and taking about 25 pills daily to keep her body from rejecting the heart. Like all transplant recipients, she’ll take them the rest of her life. Fischer volunteers for Gift of Hope, telling her transplant story to community service groups, scout troops, and anybody else willing to listen. She walked down the aisles at her sons’ weddings, in November 2001 and March 2002, respectively, thankful that the family of the 24-year-old man who lost his life gave life to her. Fischer has written his family a couple of letters, but both sides would need to consent through Gift of Hope before they could meet. “I have a great love for life...the simple things,” says Fischer, who turned 54 in January. “I get a big kick out of watching butterflies, watching animals at the zoo. I’m not getting upset or worried about the little things. It’s just not worth it.” And another article at http://patch.com/illinois/algonquin/village-names-park-in-memory-of-local-woman-volunteer. Her obituary at http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailyherald/obituary.aspx?n=linda-kay-fischer&pid=138313659. Thanks.
Milan Jackson
And this from Janet Linse Evans:
Linda Kay Fischer was always involved in her community.
As a Lake in the Hills resident for 32 years, Fischer left her mark by serving a long list of local organizations. A mother of two young boys, Fischer and her husband, Harold, moved to Lake in the Hills in 1978, and she started lending a hand as soon after settling in.
“I met Linda when her kids were small,” said former Village Clerk Pam Hopp. “She had an adorable family, and she never hesitated to get involved. If you needed someone to do something, you asked Linda.”
Fischer died Jan. 7, 2010, at the age of 61, due to a combination of an infection and pneumonia.
But her volunteer spirit is meant to live on as the village of Lake in the Hills has decided to name a park on the Kreutzer Farmstead property, 5962 Grafton Farm Road, after her.
The Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Department will dedicate the Linda K. Fischer Park in a formal ceremony at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, at the 8.98-acre former dairy farm site.
The Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Board voted June 9, 2011, to name Kreutzer Farm in Fischer’s honor after holding a “Name This Park” contest, which was announced in the winter brochure.
The board received more than a dozen nominating submissions, but selected Fischer because of her dedication to Lake in the Hills and one of its first parks, said Parks and Recreation Director Trudy Wakeman.
“It is my understanding that Linda Fischer was very instrumental in getting funds for Jaycee Park, located at Algonquin Road and Oak Leaf,” Wakeman said.
Linda's husband, Harold Fischer, nominated his late wife as a way to honor her. Years ago, Linda Fischer and several other residents went house to house in Lake in the Hills gathering petition signatures to form a park district.
Wir
"She was always fighting to have a park district," Harold Fischer said.
Throughout the years, Fischer volunteered for the Lake in the Hills Women’s League, Boy Scout Troop 369, Lake in the Hills Historical Society, the Miss Illinois Scholarship Association and was named an Outstanding Citizen, according to the Lake in the Hills Parks and Recreation Department.
After receiving a heart transplant in 2000, she volunteered for the Gift of Hope Organization, promoting organ donation in Illinois.
Years ago, Fischer stepped up and served as the village’s first information officer, providing press releases and news updates to the local media, Hopp said.
Fischer also was one of the first participants in the Lake in the Hills Citizen’s Police Academy and went on to serve as president of the academy’s Alumni Association, said Police and Public Safety Director Jim Wales.
“Linda was a model citizen,” Wales said. “She was always a professional when she would come to the village meetings. She wanted to do things for her community because she wanted to see things get done. She wasn’t looking for rewards or notoriety. Overall, she was a very dedicated citizen and a very nice, genuine person.”
In addition to her husband, Harold, Fischer is survived by her son, Eric Fischer, now 33; daughter-in-law, Katie Fischer; and three grandchildren, Nolan, Erin and Brianna.
Linda Fischer was preceded in death by her son, Kurt Fischer, who died at age 27 from a heart condition, Harold said.
Master plans for the Linda K. Fischer park call for a disc golf course, shelter and sledding hill. The village already has created 20 garden plots on the property, which are rented for $20 for Lake in the Hills residents and $30 to nonresidents. All plots are rented, Wakeman said.
The village acquired the farm, which was occupied by the Kreutzer family from 1948 to 1996, from Meadowbrook Developers, Wakeman said. Of the former 12 buildings on the site, only a round, red chicken brooder remains.