Carlyne Weil’s volunteer efforts have helped a number of charitable organizations, but her pet project for the last 30 years has been Highland Park Hospital.
“Carlyne’s a quiet leader,” said Susan Weindruch, director of volunteer resources at the hospital. “Though very soft-spoken, Carlyne has a real core of inner strength and leads by example. People want to follow her. She is also a quintessential volunteer. Whenever she has time, she’ll pick up the phone and say, `I’m free; do you need me?’ and no matter what the job, she’ll do it. It could be helping to pass out ice cream or stuff envelopes for a special event mailing. No job is beneath her.”
Weil, who lives in Highland Park, also is responsible for many firsts involving the hospital, according to Francine Friedman, vice president of development. In addition to being the first chairwoman of the Highland Park Hospital Foundation Board in 1984, Weil also in 1984 organized the first fall gala for the hospital, in 1978 created the Highland Park Hospital Foundation Junior Board for young professionals, and in 1969 created the first benefit for any organization staged at Ravinia Festival.
Now a lifetime hospital trustee and foundation honorary trustee, she has served on the board of trustees for the hospital and Lakeland Health Services, the parent corporation of the hospital and its subsidiaries, in addition to volunteering her time to patient-relations activities.
Weil has been recognized for her work, first by the Lake County Medical Society in 1990, when she was presented with an award for people who have made substantial contributions to the health and well-being of the community through their work or volunteer activities. Then last fall she was honored at a luncheon benefiting Highland Park Hospital’s Myra Rubenstein Weis Health Resource Center.
According to Eileen Rubenstein Weis, whose family established the center in memory of her late sister, “Carlyne has been a very dedicated worker at the hospital for 30 years. Someone who gives that kind of dedication deserves an honor.”
“For this honor,” said Ronald G. Spaeth, president and CEO of Highland Park Hospital, “we looked for the best of the best. She’s an exceptional lady, and she has a remarkable ability to get people to focus on the hospital. Not only does everyone know Carlyne, but she has lived and breathed Highland Park Hospital in every way and has been our spokesperson in the community many times.”
With a smile and a bit of mischief in his voice, Spaeth added, “We have always known about her ability to make sure the day of the Ravinia benefit the weather is exceptional. The sun is always out that day due to Carlyne’s direct dealings with the `guy in charge.’ “
In a way, her work simply was carrying on a family tradition. “My mother was the president of a hospital in St. Louis and was very involved in volunteering,” she said. “It has been a way of life for me. . . . It’s just one of those things that happened.”
The oldest of three children and the only girl, Weil was born in St. Louis. She received a bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she met Leslie Weil, her husband of 57 years. During World War II, while he was serving overseas in the military, she worked in a legal office in St. Louis. Upon his return, they settled in the Chicago area and started a family (they have two grown sons). At that point, she gave up working for pay and started volunteering because it fit more neatly into her family schedule.
One of her first volunteer jobs was working at a service that reunited families of war refugees. Then she worked at the Michael Reese Hospital Spastic Children’s Center school, was elected to the Women’s Board of Michael Reese Hospital and as a board member of North Shore Congregation Israel in Glencoe. She also was elected president of North Shore Women’s Aid, a Glencoe social service agency for women.
She began working with Highland Park Hospital in 1963 after moving to Highland Park in 1959, and she also served as the hospital representative to the Northwestern Healthcare Network, a collaboration of leading Chicago-area hospitals.
“She loves having a good time and never seems to get tired,” said son Craig, 49, also of Highland Park. “She most definitely instilled volunteering in me. She not only taught me to be charitable with my time but financially as well. She would send something to almost every solicitation she received; when I got older and could afford it, I would do the same thing. There were always functions she was going to and photos in the paper. These are all things that made an impression on me.”
Older son John, 51, now living in Arizona, has always been amazed to hear what people say about his mother, including learning from others that his mother is “an indefatigable worker who has helped change (Highland Park Hospital) from a sleepy neighborhood hospital to a top-notch medical facility. It never would have achieved its current status without her, yet she looks for nothing personally, just for the community. I’ve never heard her talk about it any other way.”
John has received great satisfaction from watching people relate to his mother and observing her unique way of interacting with people. “It’s a real skill to (solicit contributions) without irritating somebody,” John said. His greatest surprise was when someone at Highland Park Hospital once asked him if he realized that his mother’s efforts led to more than $10 million being raised for the hospital.
“She’s a pretty strong person with a mind of her own,” said husband Les. “She doesn’t need a lot of assistance. When it comes to giving herself for the benefit of others, I’ve never known her to say no.”
“She has an unusual skill,” Weindruch said. “She’ll hear what people want to do and will provide satisfying linkages. Her love is interacting with people. It’s where she shines.”
Carlyne Weil considers her greatest contribution to be getting others involved to help through grass-roots efforts.
“Working with Highland Park Hospital has been a wonderful experience, and I’ve learned a lot,” she said. Also, “working as liaison between patients and the hospital, you find out a lot you wouldn’t know, including both complaints and compliments. It’s been most rewarding to see Highland Park Hospital grow from a small hospital to a truly important and interesting community hospital with over 250 beds. Some of the changes have been unbelievable for me to see. I’ve never had a day when I didn’t enjoy being part of the hospital.”
