Longtime EP Village Clerk Cathy Aparo Retires After 40 Wonderful Years

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — Glass-ceiling breaker and six-term village clerk Cathy Aparo will retire Wednesday after 40 years with the Village of Evergreen Park.

The popular village clerk is a lifelong Evergreen Park resident and a 1973 graduate of Evergreen Park Community High School, where she was an “inquisitive, rule-bending, wisecracking funny girl.” Her class overturned the high school dress code that banned girls from wearing pants to school. Aparo was inducted into the EPCHS Alumni Hall of Fame in 2019, where she was an “inquisitive, wisecracking funny girl.”

“I was an above average student, but honestly only in the classes I liked,” she said in her hall induction speech. “I was in Quill and Scroll, Girls Athletic Association, Journalism, Drama Club, Home EC club and I even became an Audio Visual Aid. Only because they had total access to anywhere in the school. Who needs a hall pass when you are pushing a projector?”

After graduating from high school , Apara jumped on the “karma train” in 1984 and rode it to a job at village hall, where she spent the next 40 years. She worked in the administration and building department as a public information officer and as public information officer. Aparo was elected village clerk in 2001.

"I had the good fortune of working with Cathy for 35 years and its been nothing but a pleasure," former mayor Jim Sexton said. "She's been the ultimate municipal servant. She's done great work, made a lot of friends and helped so many people."

Aparo is also a member of the Evergreen Park Village Pantry Board and former member of the Library Foundation Board. Aparo is associated with many professional associations and has served as a mentor to many newly elected municipal clerks. These include the International Institute of Municipal Clerk’sl and the Municipal Clerks of Illinois. She has attained designations as a registered municipal clerk, certified municipal clerk, and most recently master municipal clerk. The International Institute of Municipal Clerks notes there are only 46 master municipal clerks in the entire state of Illinois. She has held every office including past president of the South and West Municipal Clerks Organization.

“I was in office for two days and we had the old fashioned cable TV to run the channel 4 government channel,” recalled former Oak Lawn Village Clerk Jane Quinlan and a close friend of Aparo. “The cable went out. I had always heard that Cathy was a nice person, so I called to get some advice from Cathy. She told Sexton, ‘I’m going over to help Janie.’ She was at village hall in five minutes. She didn’t even know me.”

Quinlan credits Aparo for pushing her to take advanced continuing education courses to obtain her master clerk designation.

“She mentored me through the whole masters program,” said Quinlan, who served the village of Oak Lawn as clerk from 2005 through 2021. “She spent six hours helping me get all the papers together. We worked together all those years. Evergreen Park is going to miss her.”

Aparo called her unprecedented six terms as village clerk “the job of a lifetime.”

“In village government, we are entrusted with the care of not only the village but all the people who live and work here,” she said when named Citizen of the Year by the Evergreen Park Chamber. “According to our 2020 census, we are 19,943 people strong. And it is my intention that the village and its inhabitants will not just survive, but thrive here.”

Read Cathy Aparo's farewell message:

"It has been my extreme honor and pleasure to have served as your Village Clerk since 2001 and as a Village employee since 1984. Over the years I have met some wonderful people, made new friends and served with the best kind of public servants, ones that care about their residents. A forty-year career is a very long time, especially in public service. People tell me I have become somewhat of a fixture at the Village Hall. When I am not there, they question where else could I possibly be?

"I hope that our paths have crossed at some point in my career and that I was able to help you solve a problem or avert a potential one. I have been very fortunate to represent the people of this Village and to do so for five consecutive terms. One of our residents told me, knowing I was the Clerk, he always felt as if he had a friend at the Village Hall. I hope many of you share that sentiment.

"Thank you to the residents, businesses and all the people who helped me succeed in this wonderful journey. Thank you to my mentors and colleagues, Mayors' Vacco, Sexton and Burke and the dedicated Trustees and Department Heads and employees that make Evergreen Park the best place to live and work. I am looking forward to enjoying a new chapter in my life. Like Mr. Rogers said, 'The end of one thing is the beginning of another.'

The Mayor will be appointing a new clerk, Kelly Duffy at the February 5 meeting. Kelly has held various positions with the Village. She is a wonderful woman with lots of experience and I know you will all welcome her. For one last time, thank you for your well wishes and your support. May God continue to bless you and your families with health, and happiness and prosperity.

~ Cathy Aparo