With her optimism and enthusiasm, Lorain Shaler had all the makings of a Girl Scout troop leader. “I think my mom embodied what the Girl Scouts were all about,” said her son, Lee. Mrs. Shaler, 77, of Mt. Prospect died of complications from Parkinson’s disease, Monday, July 26, in Oakton Pavilion Nursing Home, Des Plaines. Born Lorain Craelius on Chicago’s Northwest Side, she graduated from Kelvyn Park High School and received an associate’s degree from North Park College in Chicago. For several years, she worked as a secretary in Chicago. She married Edward Shaler in 1948, and they moved to Mt. Prospect in 1958. Mrs. Shaler was a leader of her daughter’s Girl Scout troop and later was on the board of directors of the Girl Scouts Northwest Suburban Cook County Council. She became a board member of United Way of Mt. Prospect/Prospect Heights, serving as president in 1980 and as executive director from 1981-82. “Family was so important to my mom, and she wanted to be involved in all of our lives in any way she could,” her son said. Other survivors include her husband; a daughter, Carol Ingram; another son, Glenn; a sister, Dorothy Scrivano; a brother, Carl Craelius; and seven grandchildren. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday in Community Presbyterian Church of Mt. Prospect, 407 N. Main St., Mt. Prospect.
