The News Sun; Waukegan IL; 2007-3-8
 
Elvera Lake, adult services librarian, dies at 89 
March 8, 2007 
NEWS-SUN STAFF REPORT 
WAUKEGAN -- A memorial service will be held March 25 for Elvera A. Lake
who served 30 years as adult services librarian at the Waukegan Public
Library.  Lake, 89, a lifelong resident of Waukegan, died Feb. 24. She
was 89.  She was educated in the Waukegan Public School system and was
the salutatorian of her 1935 graduating class from Waukegan Township High
School.  After raising her four children, she sought out a new profession
as a librarian with the Waukegan Public Library, At the library she became
well known in the community as she established herself as a book reviewer,
giving presentations over a period of many years to the Xaler and Ex
Libris book clubs, as well as numerous civic, church and social groups.
She also was a devoted musician, who played the piano from an early age
and was a regular accompanist for band and choral soloists at the district
and state high school competitions. She was also a longstanding member
of the handbell choir at the First United Methodist Church in Waukegan,
where she also served as the backup organist.  She was an active member
of social organizations in the Lake County area, including the Young
Woman's League of Waukegan, serving as president from 1952-53, and the
Lake County Federation of Women's Clubs, of which she was president
from 1955-57.  Survivors include children, Stephen Lake of Fort Collins,
Colo.; Donald Lake of Hagers-town, Md.; Carolyn Beach of Monroe, Wis.,
and David Lake of Redwood City, Calif.; eight grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Elmer.
The memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. March 25 in the chapel of
the First United Methodist Church, 128 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.,
Waukegan.



Published in the News Sun from 3/9/2007 - 3/22/2007.
Waukegan IL

Elvera A. Lake, 89, a lifelong resident of Waukegan, died on 24 February
2007. Elvera was educated in the Waukegan Public School system and was
the salutatorian of her 1935 graduating class from Waukegan Township
High School. After a near miss at a college scholarship opportunity,
Elvera began work as a secretary with the then American Can Company
located in Waukegan, where she met her future husband, Elmer Lake.
After a short stint in Detroit, Michigan during the war, where the
couple's first child was born, they returned to Waukegan for the
duration. Elvera was an inveterate and devoted reader and lover of books,
and after raising their four children, she sought out a new profession
as a librarian with the Waukegan Public Library, where during her thirty
years of service she acted as adult services librarian. Elvera became
well known in Waukegan's literary community as she established herself
as an articulate and popular book reviewer, giving presentations over
a period of many years to, among others, the Xaler and Ex Libris book
clubs, as well as numerous civic, church and social groups. Elvera was
a devoted musician, who had played the piano from an early age and was
a regular accompanist for band and choral soloists at the district and
state high school competitions. She was also a longstanding member of
the handbell choir at the First United Methodist Church in Waukegan,
where she also served as the backup organist. She was an active member
of social organizations in the Lake County area, including the Young
Woman's League of Waukegan, serving as president from 1952-53, and the
Lake County Federation of Women's Clubs, of which she was president
from 1955-57. She also was a PEO member, Chapter AP and a sister of Beta
Sigma Phi sorority. She is survived by her four children, Stephen Lake
of Ft. Collins, Colorado, Donald Lake of Hagerstown, Maryland, Carolyn
Beach of Monroe, Wisconsin and David Lake of Redwood City, California;
eight grandchildren and two great grandchildren. A memorial service will
be held in the chapel at the First United Methodist Church, 128 North
Martin Luther King Jr. Dr., Waukegan on March 25 at 1:00 p.m. In lieu of
flowers or other remembrances, memorial contributions may be made to the
Waukegan Public Library Foundation, where the family is sponsoring in
Elvera's memory the "Imagine That" sculpture in the library's sculpture
garden, or to the First United Methodist Church.