Deborah Ross Jannotta

Deborah Wilkinson Ross was born in Evanston, Illinois on August 16, 1934. She grew up in Highland Park and Hinsdale, Illinois, daughter of George and Louise Ross and sister of Peter.Debby graduated from Smith College in 1956, where she met her husband, Edgar D. (Ned) Jannotta on a blind date set up by her brother.Ned and Debby married on December 29, 1956, and lived in Virginia Beach, where Ned was a naval officer and Debby was an elementary school teacher. The moved to Boston where Ned attended Harvard Business School, and they had their first child.In 1959, they moved to the northern suburbs of Chicago (Northbrook, Kenilworth and then Winnetka), where they raised their 4 children: Katie, Ned, Peter and Ross. Debby became active in the Chicago community, including volunteering at Rush University Medical Center. At Rush she initially pushed a book cart, serving patients with her mother, when she was only 16 years old. Later, she served as President of the Rush Women?s Board.Debby was one of the leaders of the Chicago Foundation for Education, where she and Shirley Jaffee were Co-Chairs of Development for 25 years, raising money for a grant program that benefited Chicago public school teachers. She worked tirelessly at CFE until her death. Debby became interested in the Lyric Opera of Chicago and was a devoted and esteemed member of their Woman?s Board for 25 years.Debby was an extraordinary person and generous beyond expectation to everyone she met. She was adored by all who knew her due to her loving and kind spirit. She dearly loved her husband, Ned, and her children, Katie Palmer (John), Ned Jannotta Jr. (Erika Pearsall), Peter Jannotta (Meghan), Ross Jannotta (Elinor) and her grandchildren, Ross, Charlie, Nate, Ciara and Louise Palmer, Alexandra, Max and Samantha Jannotta, Grace, Joe and Jane Jannotta, and Peter, Luke and Whitney Jannotta. Deborah Jannotta, 1934-2014Fundraiser for Lyric Opera, Rush University Medical Center and educational endeavorsBy Bob Goldsborough, Special to the TribuneMay 22, 2014For more than five decades, Deborah Jannotta was a pillar of Chicago's civic community, working to raise money for several organizations and also directing her energies toward improving education in Chicago's schools.Mrs. Jannotta's service included 25 years on Lyric Opera's Women's Board, close to 40 years on the Woman's Board of Rush University Medical Center and a quarter-century as a co-chair of development for the Chicago Foundation for Education.With an infectious laugh and an upbeat spirit, Mrs. Jannotta gave her all to whatever task was before her."Debby was an advocate, and when she took something on, she gave every bit of abilities, attention and energy," said Joyce Rumsfeld, a longtime friend and wife of former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. "She was always full out."A longtime Winnetka resident, Mrs. Jannotta, 79, died Sunday, May 18, at her home of complications from breast cancer, said her daughter, Katie Palmer. She had battled cancer for more than 13 years and recently had suffered a setback after falling and breaking her hip, elbow and collarbone, her daughter said.Born Deborah Ross in Evanston, Mrs. Jannotta grew up in Highland Park and Hinsdale, graduating from Hinsdale High School. She then earned a bachelor's degree at Smith College in 1956.While in high school, Mrs. Jannotta was set up on a blind date with her future husband, Edgar "Ned" Jannotta. Her brother, Peter, had been a classmate of Ned Jannotta's at Princeton University."It was in the middle of the fall, and Debby was still in high school and was coming out to look at colleges," recalled Ned Jannotta, chairman emeritus of investment bank William Blair & Co. "Peter said that she had told him that he had to get her a date, and they asked me if I was game. At that time at Princeton, there were no girls, and I said sure. ? We had a great weekend, and we started dating. She went to Smith, and we saw each other on and off, and my mother was crazy about her. She said, 'Ned, get with it.'"Four years after that meeting, after Mrs. Jannotta graduated from Smith, Ned Jannotta proposed to her. She didn't say yes right away, he recalled with a laugh."She said, 'I have accepted a teaching job in Boston,' and it wasn't convenient for her," he said. "So I said to her, 'Don't assume I'll ever ask you again.' She called me back the next day and said, 'OK, let's go.' We got married, and she was just a great partner. We had a wonderful life together."Right after marrying, in December 1956, Mrs. Jannotta and her husband lived in Virginia Beach, where her husband served as a naval officer and she taught elementary school. They then moved to Boston, where her husband attended Harvard Business School.In 1959, the couple moved back to the Chicago area, settling first in Northbrook and later living in Kenilworth and Winnetka.In 1962, Mrs. Jannotta worked on Donald Rumsfeld's first successful campaign for Congress in Illinois alongside her husband, who was Rumsfeld's campaign manager. Tasks included making phone calls and going door to door to solicit support."She worked day and night on that campaign," Ned Jannotta recalled. "It was a startup campaign, and every day Debby was in the office and also going door to door. And she wore these big plastic earrings that read, 'Rumsfeld for Congress.' She was a pretty good advocate for him."One of Mrs. Jannotta's earliest volunteer efforts took place at what now is Rush University Medical Center, where she started out at age 16 pushing a book cart and serving patients with her mother, Louise Ross. Mrs. Jannotta never forgot that connection to Rush, and after moving back to the Chicago area, she resumed her work at Rush. She joined the center's Woman's Board in 1976 and served as its president from 1984 to 1986. She remained on the board until her death.In the late 1970s, Joyce Rumsfeld and her husband had moved back to the Chicago area, and Joyce was intrigued by a new "character education" curriculum adopted by some California schools that was aimed at improving student behavior by adding regular class discussions about decision-making and social situations. That sparked an interest in bringing the program to a broad number of Chicago schools.The result was a small group that Joyce Rumsfeld formed in 1984 called the Chicago Committee for Character Education. Its name changed to the Chicago Foundation for Education in 1985, and Mrs. Jannotta began volunteering there alongside Rumsfeld and a friend of Mrs. Jannotta's since high school, Marcia Littlejohn.Mrs. Jannotta and another friend, Shirley Jaffee, later were tapped to serve as co-chairwomen of development for the foundation, raising money for a grant program to benefit public school teachers. The duo worked together in that role for more than 25 years."When Debby and I started working together at the foundation, we had no support staff," Jaffee recalled. "We would sit at the computer for hours composing proposals and letters from scratch. Today now, we have a wonderful staff of five, and we (still) couldn't be doing all that we want to do to benefit Chicago Public Schools teachers and staff."Even as she was ailing, Mrs. Jannotta remained interested in the foundation's activities, Jaffee said.Copyright © 2014 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC