A longtime River Grove resident and Village Board member died early Thursday morning during surgery to receive a liver transplant.
River Grove Trustee Kathryn Bruce, 50, had been a River Grove Village Board member since 2008. She died Feb. 26 due to a blood clot in her heart, according to her husband, Stuart Bruce.
River Grove Comptroller Frank Calistro said the health problems were discovered recently.
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“About three months ago, she found out her liver was bad, so she’s been on the list for a transplant,” he said. “She eventually did end up being at the top of the list.”
She had been hospitalized for two weeks at University of Chicago Hospital before the surgery Feb. 25.
As recently as Wednesday night before her surgery, Bruce’s family and friends were hopeful about her operation.
“She went into the surgery happy and excited that she was going to get a new liver and she was very optimistic,” Stuart Bruce said. “She could hardly talk, but she was in pretty good spirits.”
Surgery started around 7 p.m., but things turned during the operation. Stuart said his wife died around 3:05 a.m.
Prior to being appointed to the seat, she served as the village’s assistant recreation director.
Bruce got her start in public service in 2001, becoming a member of the River Grove School Parent Teacher Association and in 2003, she was elected to River Grove School Board. She also helped to organize the River Grove Royals Athletic Club, which raised money for the school’s athletic programs.
Stuart recognized his wife’s involvement in the community and said she was always giving back.
“She was involved in the community and improving opportunities in the community for kids,” he said. “She worked with the recreation department and was very involved in the government.”
For the past two years, she had also worked as secretary to River Grove School Superintendent Glenn Grieshaber.
An emotional Grieshaber said he remembered when Bruce was in his seventh- and eighth-grade classroom when he taught at Rhodes Elementary School in River Grove. He said she was a selfless student.
“She was one of those quiet kids,” he said. “Some people work [in school] for themselves; she wanted to work for others.”
He said that even when she was in discomfort, she still kept giving.
“She wouldn’t let you know,” he said. “She gave as long as she could.”
Stuart Bruce said it was hard for him to express what he’d miss most about her wife, but there were some absolutes.
“She was a very very good wife,” he said. “She was an excellent mother, an excellent housewife and an excellent partner.”
Kathryn and Stuart had been married for 24 years as of Feb. 15 and had one adult child together, Daniel Bruce. Stuart Bruce has another child, Julie Hill, from a previous relationship and three grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending.