Arlington Hts. leaders remember ex-trustee

Arlington Heights village officials spent a moment in silence Tuesday night to remember former village trustee Madeline Schroeder.


Schroeder, who was active on the village board and plan commission in the 1970s and '80s, died July 31 after fighting lung cancer and Parkinson's disease. She died at a hospice facility in Las Cruces, N.M., at the age of 79.


Schroeder served on the Arlington Heights plan commission from Feb. 2, 1970, to April 30, 1975, and on the village board from May 1, 1975, to May 1, 1983.


"Thank Madeline, for her years of service and caring," village President Arlene Mulder told everyone gathered at the beginning of the village board meeting after letting people know of Schroeder's death.


Schroeder was active in groups like the League of Women Voters and took interest in park district activities.


She played a major role in developing the village's comprehensive zoning plan. Some of her ideas were progressive and helped develop standards still adhered to today, said former trustee Dwight Walton.


Schroeder opposed developing the Viatorian property for low- income housing, which put them on opposite sides of that particular fence.


But Walton admired her penchant for calling things as she saw them and fighting for what she saw as best for the village.


"There were certainly times when Madeline and I saw things differently, but I always admired her community activities," he said.


"She certainly left her mark on the village of Arlington Heights."


Schroeder was one of the first women to lead the village in a board position, paving the way for present leaders like Mulder, and trustees Helen Jensen and Virginia Kucera.


"She was a real independent and voiced her opinions, even if she was in the minority," said Mulder, who knew Schroeder mostly as a resident.


"She was very intelligent and represented a different viewpoint on the village board."
Schroeder graduated from the University of Chicago in 1945 with a chemistry degree and was a chemist for several years before beginning a family.


In 1954, she joined League of Women Voters in Illinois and remained active with the league in Illinois and Pennsylvania. She was also a breast cancer survivor Schroeder was cremated at her own request, and there were no services following her death.