Kathryn Jones Vittum

(1904 – 2008)

                Kathryn Jones Vittum died September 5 at the Lutheran Home in Arlington Heights just a few weeks prior to her 104^th birthday. A resident of the community for over 60 years, Mrs. Vittum most recently resided at Luther Village. According to her son, Daniel, she died peacefully in her sleep.

                Education was a major focus of Mrs. Vittum’s life. For a number of years prior to her marriage, she taught elementary school in Southeastern Kentucky. She was honored with membership in the Coal Camp Teachers Hall of Fame in Benham, Kentucky, where she taught for many years. Mrs. Vittum was also a supporter of her alma mater, Kentucky’s Midway College. In 1997 she endowed the Kathryn Jones Vittum Scholarship in aid of young Eastern Kentucky women pursuing a degree in teacher education. She was awarded the Midway College President’s Award in 2006 by President William Drake of Midway College, who noted that:

 “The President’s Award is bestowed upon a graduate who has exemplified the values of compassion and commitment to service underscored by the mission of Midway College.  Kathryn represents these values and her legacy continues through the Kathryn Jones Vittum Scholarship.  This scholarship is awarded annually to a student who has financial need, a record of academic excellence and a desire to pursue a degree in teacher education.  Because of Kathryn’s endowed scholarship gift, recipients who would not otherwise have educational access will realize their dreams of becoming teachers.”

The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky commissioned Kathryn Jones Vittum a Kentucky Colonel in 2004 in recognition of her significant service to the state.

Kathryn Vittum also supported the Noble Network of Charter Schools, a Chicago charter school network that operates seven small public high school campuses. She was one of the original donors whose gifts enabled the Network’s Noble Street College Prep Campus to open in 1999. In appreciation of her support, the Network honored Mrs. Vittum by naming its Freshman Hall in her honor. Michael Milkie, Superintendent of the Network, noted that:

"It is appropriate that our freshmen hall is named Kathryn Vittum Hall because in those early days of Noble Street Charter School, Mrs. Vittum  support was critical to opening our doors and serving our very first students."

                Mrs. Vittum also assisted in the 1998 opening of the Vittum Theater by Northwestern University Settlement Association in Chicago. Named for the Settlement’s long time Head Resident, Harriet Vittum, a cousin of Mrs. Vittum’s late husband, the Vittum Theater today houses Adventure Stage Chicago. Every year thousands of public school children are able to attend live theatre with an educational bent. The Settlement’s President, Ron Manderschied, commented:

“Kathryn Vittum was a valued member of the Northwestern University Settlement family for many, many years.  Her greatest joy came from supporting our educational efforts.  In particular, she was a key supporter of the Vittum Theater which provides classroom based arts residencies in some of the city’s poorest schools. As a retired teacher, Mrs. Vittum knew how important the arts were to children, not only as a way to experience the world in a new and imaginative way, but to improve their academic achievement as well.  She never stopped supporting those things that were nearest to her heart, and I know she was thrilled by the success of the theater program and its impact on Chicago’s school children.”

                Mrs. Vittum was born September 19, 1904 on a farm outside of Monticello, KY. She was the next to youngest of the ten children of William Kendrick Jones and his wife, Lillie Rankin Jones. Following the death of her father in 1916, Mrs. Vittum attended the Kentucky Female Orphans School in Midway, Kentucky, graduating in 1922. At her death, she was the oldest living graduate of that institution, now known as Midway College.

Mrs. Vittum taught school in several small Southeastern Kentucky towns, including Benham, KY, where she met and married Daniel W. Vittum, Sr. She and her husband had a son, Daniel, Jr., and moved first to Chicago and thereafter to Arlington Heights during the 1940s. Following the birth of her son, she retired as a full-time teacher, devoting herself to her family and friends and to her volunteer efforts. Her husband preceded her in death in 1990.

                Mrs. Vittum is a longtime member of the First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, the P.E.O. Sisterhood, the Daughters of the American Revolution and Delta Delta Delta sorority. She was a long time volunteer at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights, accumulating nearly 20,000 volunteer hours.

In addition to her son, she is survived by her daughter-in-law, Dr. Christine Jacobek, of Chicago; two grandsons, Dr. Daniel Vittum III and his wife, Dr. Bernice Man, also of Chicago; and Stephen Vittum of Minneapolis; and three great granddaughters, Neenah Kathryn Vittum, Tali Elizabeth Vittum and Mora Kai Vittum, all of Chicago.

Memorial Service 2:00 p.m. September 19, 2008 at First Presbyterian Church of Arlington Heights, 302 N. Dunton, Arlington Heights,  which would have been her 104^th birthday. A reception will follow at the Church. Burial will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that contributions be made to Noble Network of Charter Schools, 1010 Noble Street, Chicago, IL 60642.