‘Mrs. Crystal Lake’ – community leader and philanthropist Rosemary Blazier – dies at 96

Local icon Rosemary Blazier, commonly known as “Mrs. Crystal Lake,” died at the age of 96 on Saturday.

Her core values to give back and empower others made her a pillar in the community with the philanthropic work she and her husband Bob Blazier accomplished, from starting the Raue Center for the Arts Foundation to establishing the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Foundation. The couple were also integral parts in starting the Centegra Foundation and the McHenry County College Foundation.

Rosemary Blazier was a former physical education teacher and counselor in District 47, and served as president of the Service League of Crystal Lake and as a religious education instructor at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church. She helped found the first American Cancer Society 24-hour Walk/Run Against Cancer, now Relay For Life, in Illinois.

An avid golfer and bridge player, Blazier was also an active member of the St. Thomas Choir and Women’s Club, St. Jude Guild and Service League; the American Cancer Society; PEO Sisterhood; and the Heart Association of Crystal Lake, according to an obituary published by the Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory.

Blazier was born in downstate Spring Valley and attended Western Illinois University where she met Bob. From there, they lived in Jacksonville and she worked as a P.E. teacher for the deaf. The couple moved to Crystal Lake in 1962, where Rosemary Blazier continued for work in P.E. instruction, this time at Central Elementary and Junior High School (now Husmann Elementary School). She spent 35 years in education.

Bob Blazier, now 98, is a former superintendent of District 47, a former Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce president and a former vice president of marketing and education for Northern Illinois Medical Center in McHenry (now Northwestern McHenry Medicine Hospital).

“She did everything Bob did, but she did it in high heels and dancing backwards,” former Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce Foundation chair Kathleen Caldwell said said. “That’s the epitome of Rosemary.”

Though Bob would get most of the recognition for their accomplishments, his wife always was his rock, Bob told the Northwest Herald in a 2015 interview.

“A lot of things I did, Rosemary helped with by coming and supporting me,” Bob said. “We have lots of talks together, [and we have] excellent teamwork.”

The couple celebrated 75 years of marriage in June. Bob said he always knew Rosemary was the love of his life by how she treated people with kindness and care. He joked that it took a year to wear her down and get her to go out with him – he still remembers the exact date, Sept. 9, 1946. They married in 1949 in Spring Grove, only one week after graduating from WIU.

“That long ago, things were very simple. The men didn’t wear tuxedos, just business suits,” he said. “Rosemary looked so beautiful. It was a beautiful gown.”

The Raue Center has written on the theater’s marquee “Always in our hearts, Rosemary.” Raue Center for the Arts CEO Richard Kuranda said Blazier provided the organization “a compass as to what the community really needed in terms of entertainment.”

“It’s pretty safe to say we might not have an educational program had it not been for Rosemary and Bob,” he said.

A regular volunteer for fundraising and ushering shows, Rosemary Blazier was always asking what the Raue Center can do for families, kids and the community, Kuranda said. He remembers her being charming, inviting and “exceedingly funny” that would always keep spirits up.

“It wasn’t just about selling tickets and the money, it was always more about what we can become and what we are learning,” he said.

The Blaziers helped created the Bob Blazier Run for the Arts that includes the Rosemary 1-mile walk over 25 years ago. That race has collected a net of almost $300,000 for the Raue over the years, race coordinator and family friend Mike Splitt said. Kuranda remembers Blazier always saying “we’re good people trying to do good things,” he said.

Splitt remembers Blazier to have a “heart of gold” and would always hold hands with Bob and squeeze and smile at each other.

“They were trailblazers. Pun intended,” he said.

Blazier’s legacy also affected the Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce, which dedicated the Pump House to the couple and renamed the building the Blazier Center for Commerce, Leadership, and Community in 2015.

The Chamber Foundation gave Blazier the Ginger Rogers award at the first GEM Luncheon in 2013, where her husband was also recognized for his work with the foundation, Caldwell said. Blazier honored Bob with a metal lunch boxes because she “had a rule that Bob could not come home for lunch” because she wanted him to be out in the community, Caldwell said. Caldwell describes Blazier to be filled with grace, elegance and generosity.

“She lit up the room,” she said. “She was such a beautiful woman inside and out.”

Visitation for Rosemary Blazier will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the Davenport Family Funeral Home and Crematory, 419 E. Terra Cotta Ave., Crystal Lake. A memorial Mass will be held at 2 p.m. Friday at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 451 W Terra Cotta Ave., Crystal Lake. Interment will be private.

“Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences go out to her family and friends during this difficult time,” Crystal Lake Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Catherine Peterson said. “We know that Rosemary’s memory will live on through the positive impact she had in the community and those she loved.”

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the American Cancer Society or the Heart Association of Crystal Lake, reflecting Rosemary’s lifelong dedication to helping others, according to her obituary.