ROLLING MEADOWS - Rena Trevor, 87, died Sunday morning, Feb. 9, 2014, at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge. She was born in Chicago on June 21, 1926, to Salvatore and Catharine Yapelli Marcello. She attended Chicago public schools and earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Iowa. At Iowa, her college roommate introduced her to her brother, William D. Trevor; they married on May 21, 1950. A 57-year resident of Rolling Meadows, Rena had many roles in her long, rich life: journalist, mother, community volunteer, civil rights activist, fair-housing advocate, educator, gardener, reader. She bore and, with her husband and lots of love from her extended Italian-American family, raised four happy and healthy children. She was proud to have joined, with her sister, a 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march led by Dr. Martin Luther King. She was the energetic president of the League of Women Voters of Arlington Heights in 1967-68. In 1970 she was the northwest suburban manager of Adlai Stevenson's campaign for the U.S. Senate, and in 1972 she was the northwest suburban coordinator for Sen. George McGovern's campaign for U.S. president. Among the causes she fought for as a community activist were fair housing, equal opportunities for new immigrants to the northwest suburbs and access for all people to the basic requirements of a dignified life. She launched a second career in the mid-1970s as coordinator of the women's program at William Rainey Harper Junior College; she retired in 1991 to travel, garden, read, enjoy her many friendships and brag about her two long-awaited grandchildren. She served without pay as Rolling Meadows' welfare officer in the 1990s, volunteered with the Salvation Army and became more active with the League of Women Voters. Rena's last social engagement outside her home was the annual League meeting in May 2013, where she was honored for 50 years of active membership. Among those who preceded Rena in death were her husband, who from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s worked as a wire editor and copy editor at the Chicago American, the Chicago Daily News, the Arlington Day and the Chicago Tribune; her sister, Mimi Stafford; a niece, Cathy Stafford; a cousin, Frank Savino, and sisters-in-law Connie Hershorn and Lottie Marcello. She is survived by her children, Richard (Arlene Fischhoff) of Oakland, Calif.; Domenica (Alvey Jones) of Ann Arbor, Mich.; James of Madrid; and Margaret of Oakland, Calif.; two grandchildren, Mimi Trevor and William Frank "Frankie" Trevor; and a beloved niece, Yvonne Stafford of Oak Park. Other survivors include a brother, Anthony Marcello, of Durand; a dear niece, Janice Marcello Huber of Durand; devoted cousins John Yapelli of Evanston, Mimi Geiger of Huntley and and Clementina Luotto of Rome; and many special nephews and cousins as well as many dear friends, especially Pat Lindner and Henrietta DuBois, and Iryna Dzulynsky and Tamara Petrushina, caregivers who made possible both her final years at home and her children's peace of mind. Visitation will be 3-8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, at Meadows Funeral Home, 3615 Kirchoff Road (½ block east of Route 53), Rolling Meadows. Funeral Thursday, from the funeral home, to St. Colette Catholic Church, 3900 Meadow Drive, Rolling Meadows, for Mass at 10 a.m. In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the local Salvation Army or the Ministry of Care at St. Colette. For information, 847-253-0224.

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Published by Daily Herald from Feb. 11 to Feb. 12, 2014.