At the December 15 Board of Trustees meeting, CTPF recognized two Trustees for their service and launched its milestone program for Trustees and Employees.
Milestone Awards
CTPF formally recognized the more than 850 years of service that our Trustees and Employees have contributed to the Fund in service to members. Trustee milestones include:
- Victor Ochoa, 1 year of service
- Quentin S. Washington, 1 year of service
- Philip Weiss, 2 years of service
- Miguel del Valle, 3 years of service
- Vice President Jacquelyn Price Ward, 4 years of service
- Recording Secretary, Trustee Lois Nelson, 8.8 years of service
- President Jeffery Blackwell, 10 years of service
- Tina Padilla, 11 years of service
- Jerry Travlos, 10 years of service
- Maria J. Rodriguez, 16.9 years of service
- Financial Secretary Mary Sharon Reilly, 25.9 years of service
More than 100 Employees were recognized with milestone awards, with service ranging from one to thirty eight years. The Trustees recognized Don Adams, Senior Systems Engineer, for 25 years of service and Gail Davis, Director of Administrative Services, for 38 years of service.
Going forward, CTPF will recognize annually the one-, and five-year milestones achieved by our Trustees and Employees to show appreciation for their dedicated service to the Fund and its members.
Special Recognition
The Trustees also presented two special awards, a Distinguished Service Award to former Trustee Dwayne Truss, and a 25-Year Service Award to Trustee Mary Sharon Reilly.
Trustee Truss retired in June and ended his service as CTPF’s Board of Education representative. Truss has a long history of dedicated service to Chicago and his community. An active community volunteer and advocate, he has served as the Executive Director/Coach of Austin Youth League/Austin Mandela Little League and as a local school council member at Byford (now Brunson), Hitch, and Ella Flagg Young schools. He has served as a member of several advisory councils and the Westside Branch of the NAACP. A Chicago Public Schools graduate, he earned a B.A. in accounting from Northeastern Illinois University, and served in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and Army National Guard. Truss joined CTPF Board of Trustees 2019 and since that time served on several committees including investments, finance and audit, and notably as a member of our Trustee Working Group.
Trustee Mary Sharon Reilly was presented with a 25 Year Service Award with gratitude from the Board of Trustees for her quarter century of service to CTPF. Reilly served as an Active Teacher Trustee from 1991-2002 and as a pensioner trustee from 2007 to the present.
Trustee Reilly was elected to CTPF as an active Teacher Trustee in November of 1991. During her tenure as an Active Teacher Trustee, she chaired the committee on Pension Law and Rules, Finance Committee, and served as Vice President before being elected President in 1993, a position she held until her retirement in August of 2002. Elected to represent retirees in 2007, Trustee Reilly has been elected to CTPF a total of 12 times and served more than 25 years. She has served as chair of every standing committee, and in every leadership position. She has attended more than 300 meetings during her lifetime and contributed countless hours of service to support both active and retired teachers and has made the business of the Fund, her life’s work.
Trustees Truss and Reilly were presented plaques with appreciation from the Board of Trustees.