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Linda Zirzow
President
Linda Zirzow was raised on a farm and is a retired teacher. She taught the Neglected and Delinquent Title I Program for adult, male felons in the Illinois Department of Corrections, where she instructed inmate students to obtain GEDs. She has also taught in public, private, and college settings and holds special education supervisory endorsements for learning disabilities, social/emotional disorders, and physical challenges, as well as reading and language arts. Her interests include participating in organic crop improvement, and practicing horticulture, apiculture, Reiki, hypnosis, reflexology, and therapeutic touch. Linda is the author of Wilbur, the Miracle Pig- a true, inspirational story for children in need of physical therapy.
Linda is honoring her father, who served "for the duration" of WWII in the Navy on a sub-chaser; her daughter's father, who served during the Vietnam War in the Air Force as a weather observer; and deceased board member Herschel Luckinbill who served during the Vietnam War in the Navy. Linda wants to give back to those who have given SO much to their country. May God bless all the veterans.
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Martha Vera
Martha was raised outside of Cleveland, Ohio. She graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Education from Bowling Green State University (Ohio), and then earned a Master of Arts degree in Spanish from the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. She taught Spanish in three different public high schools for 31 years, retiring in 1994. For the last twenty years of her high school teaching career, she supervised 10 other teachers while serving as head of the foreign language department in a large suburban high school. Since then, she has been teaching English as a Second Language, first at Waubonsee Community College, and for the last ten years at Illinois Valley Community College. She has 5 dogs and 8 cats which are her "kids." She is active in the music ministry at her church and enjoys oil painting and reading as hobbies.
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Michael "Mike" Eckburg
Mike is commander of Roosevelt-Aurora American Legion Post 84 in Aurora. He is a Vietnam-era veteran who served in the Navy. He is also involved with the Fox Valley Veterans' Breakfast Club.
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Wayne E. Johnson
Wayne is a Vietnam-era Army veteran who served at Eighth Army Headquarters, G-1 Officer Assignments in Seoul, Korea. He currently lives in Aurora with his wife of 44 years, Pat. They have two grown adopted Korean children and a granddaughter. Wayne is the author of the award-winning book, The Militarized Zone: What Did You Do in the Army, Grandpa? Award Winner in 2015, 2018, and Short Screenplay Awards.