Giving Back Matters

A Part of Life
JANE
Eighty-five-year old St.
Charles resident Jane
Peterson still remembers the
day when she was just four
and her mother brought her
newborn sister home to join
the family. “I was excited
about having a sister and
was ready to play, so I was
a little disappointed that
she was so little,” says Jane.
“But my father told me not
to worry; baby Mary would
grow up.”
What happened was that the girls grew up together. Neither
married, but they spent their adult lives sharing the same
house, the same place of employment and one unique
friendship. The two were so similar that their mailman wasn’t
sure who was Mary and who was Jane. “We never fought,
which makes for a sound friendship,” says Jane.
Supported by each other, they built their intertwined lives on
hard work and hands-on philanthropy. Even though they
worked long hours together at State & Harris Bank in St.
Charles from 1951 to 1989, the two found time to care
for their mother—who passed away when they were in their
40s—as well as other aging relatives. They spent hours baking
thousands of cookies each holiday season that were given
away to friends and neighbors, and were devoted members
of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in St. Charles where their
grandparents were charter members.
They didn’t stop their giving there. Each holiday season they
sat down together and wrote out checks to local organizations
they felt compelled to support. “It is just one of those things,”
says Jane. “We were always taught to share. It was part of our
upbringing.”
That philosophy, taught to them when they were children, was
something they continued as adults. “The way we both felt was
that if you have it, you should share it,” says Jane. “To both of
us it seemed the natural thing to do.”
Delnor was a recipient of the sisters’ generosity over the years,
receiving annual financial gifts supporting both the hospital
and its Senior Vitality program. The tradition started when
the sisters were working at State Bank and chose to support
Delnor through its payroll-giving program, which automatically
transferred earmarked donations from their accounts.
For both women, choosing to support Delnor was an easy
choice. “We went to the spring Senior Vitality meetings each
spring and I took the Senior Vitality seated exercise course,”
says Jane. “I started first and then Mary joined me.”
Both had been patients at Delnor as well. Most recently
Jane was hospitalized for a viral infection and pneumonia
that nearly took her life. “I can’t say enough about the care
I received then,” says Jane. “To have such a high quality
hospital right here in our community is so important.”
Mary too was a patient at Delnor. She underwent a successful
angioplasty at the hospital while in her 70s; but while
recovering from a similar procedure in May passed away at
the age of 80. In her will, she left a sizable financial gift to
the hospital and the Senior Vitality program, continuing the
tradition she and her sister had followed — but this time in a
larger fashion.
The loss of her sister, a life-long partner and best friend, is
a loss that Jane is still grappling with. “She was a good kid,
Mary was,” she says. “She was so good for me, and I think I
was good for her as well. I only hope that I can follow in her
footsteps and continue to give the donations that help places
like Delnor help others.”
Even after Mary’s death, that mission of generosity still has
life. Mary’s liver and kidneys were donated to a medical
program, and Jane has given much of her sister’s furniture
and belongings away to those who need them, both in her
family and the community at large. “I’m continuing to do what
I can.”