A special award for a special resident

CHRIS FOX PHOTO

The Villa Park Community Pride Commission presented a “Special Edition” Community Spirit Award to Jeanie Nicholson at the Villa Park Village Board meeting on July 12. Nicholson recently concluded many years of service on the commission. Several of Nicholson’s family members and friends attended the presentation at the recent board meeting. Nicholson is pictured (holding the award) outside of Villa Park Village Hall after the presentation. A Villa Park resident since 1960, Nicholson worked as a special education aide at Willowbrook High School for 30 years before retiring in 2002. “Never one to be idle, that’s when Jeanie’s volunteerism kicked into high gear, and all of Villa Park got to reap the benefits of her hard work and caring nature,” said Leslie Allison-Seei, the chair of the village’s community pride commission. Nicholson’s five children—four daughters and one son—graduated from Willowbrook. She has 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.