Special Ed Teacher Inducted Posthumously In McAuley Hall of Honor

ORLAND PARK, IL — An Orland Park woman and special education teacher is being inducted posthumously into the Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School's hall of honor. Alumnae, friends and supporters of the school are invited to attend the ceremony and brunch on the school's Chicago campus at 3737 W. 99th St.

Huguelet, 67, died in a shooting on the Dan Ryan Expressway last August as she and her husband were returning home from a White Sox game. A 1972 graduate of the Catholic girls high school, Denise Sullivan Huguelet was a special education teacher for more than 30 years, a mother of five, grandmother of 11, and friend to all who met her.

She began her career in special education in Orland Park before continuing to Coral Springs, Florida. Upon her return to Chicago’s South Side, taught special education at Central Middle School in District 124 for 24 years, serving students with significant disabilities.

Her family and past students can attest to her energy, passion, and kindness. Time and time again, past students have shared how they wouldn’t be where they are today if they hadn’t been taught by Denise. She not only helped her students find strategies to learn and overcome their disabilities, but treated her students as people, making them feel special and making them feel valued when so many others did not.

“We traditionally think of accomplishments as titles and awards and bank account amounts… She didn’t look at accomplishments as, ‘I want to obtain this position’ or ‘I need to get this thing to validate my skill set,’” Huguelet’s son, Mike, said. “She just served. I think the accomplishments that I’m proud of her for and that she’d be most proud of are the individual student successes… Those were the accomplishments that she would be proud of. In the small moments, she could make somebody feel better and do something that they didn’t think they could do.”

Huguelet is one of six women being inducted into the McAuley Hall of Honor on Sunday, March 20. Alumnae, past honorees, friends, family, and supporters of the school are invited to attend the event, which will be held on the school’s campus, 3737 W. 99th Street, Chicago.

The event will begin with Mass at 10 a.m. in the auditorium, with celebrant Monsignor Kenneth Velo, followed by the induction ceremony. A champagne brunch will be held in the student lounge immediately after the induction. The mass and induction are free of charge; tickets to the brunch cost $50 per person or $400 per table (8 guests). Tickets can be purchased online.

“We are blessed to have such accomplished women as alumnae of Mother McAuley - women with great religious conviction, business acumen, heroes in healthcare, and educators who have made the world a better place,” said the school’s president, Mary Acker Klingenberger, in a news release. “It is our privilege to recognize, honor, and celebrate these dedicated women and welcome them into the McAuley Hall of Honor.”