Trustee Margaret Fuller, chairman of the committee, said she will introduce a resolution March 24, 2005 outlining Bernero's history and accomplishments.

"Our historian, Ed Connelly Sr., prepared the information about Mrs. Bernero, having worked with her, and they were friends. Ed is most qualified to write her historic background and we are fortunate that he is able to document her life" Fuller said.

Bernero was born on April 9, 1914 in Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in management. She moved to Illinois and lived at 4438 North Newland in Harwood Heights with her husband and children.

She became active in education, serving as the president of the Union Ridge School Board and Parent Teachers Association and legislative chairman for PTA District 28. She was a president of the Leyden Community Council and also as a member of the Committee for the Formation of the Eisenhower Library.

She was a member of the study committee which was formed to establish Ridgewood High School District 234, Connelly said.

Bernero served on the Ridgewood School Board for 18 years as secretary and as its president for four years. To obtain the water for the high school, she went with another member to the home of Chicago's 38th Ward Alderman Parky Cullerton on Christmas Eve to obtain permission to extend the water pipes from Chicago to Norridge for the high school. In her honor, when Ridgewood High School was built, the auditorium was named "the Frances Bernero Auditorium."

In 1964 Harwood Heights Mayor Patrick Arbor appointed Bernero as secretary of the Harwood Heights Zoning Board of Appeals, where she served for nine years. In 1973 she ran for trustee on the Ray Willas ticket and was elected, becoming the first woman trustee in the village. For the next 23 years Frances Bernero served the village, chairing several committees including building and ordinance.

She received many awards including the Excellence Citation in 1974 from the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. She also received the Distinguished Service Award from the Leyden Department of Special Education.

Bernero died on April 9, 1997.

She is being remembered for her vision and example to woman in politics.

"The Harwood Heights Historical Committee wishes to acknowledge a woman who has enriched the history of Harwood Heights and our community," Fuller said.

"I would like to see her portrait hung in the trustees' room at the village hall, I think that would be fitting," said Fuller.

Printed in the March 10, 2005 issue of the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/no/03-10-05-524722.html