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Psychologist touched lives in two states
John Conlin
Updated: December 19, 2012 11:32AM
NORTHFIELD
John M. Conlin, Northfield’s police psychologist and a former Glenbrook High School District 225 board member, died Nov. 6. He was 57.
“A lot of his patients that he’s been seeing have called me, and the emotional outpouring has been a little overwhelming,” Northfield Police Chief William Lustig said Monday.
“You provide a service, and you’re not sure how much people appreciate it until something like this happens.”
Conlin also had a private practice headquartered in Northbrook, which specialized in issues of teenagers.
“He had a special place in his heart for adolescents,” his sister Judy Hughes said Monday. “He wanted their experience in school to be the best that could be provided.”
Conlin served on the school board between 1992 and 1997. About a year later, he and his family moved from Northbrook to Williams Bay, Wis.
At about the same time, he began working for the Northfield Police Department, eventually settling into a four-day week in Illinois, and three days in Wisconsin.
Conlin was an active member of the Northbrook Civic Foundation, and was a founding operator of the group’s food booth, where he volunteered annually for years. In Williams Bay, Conlin helped his wife Marianne operate the Danish restaurant/gift shop Skagen Hus for years.
“It ended up with some regular people who would come in and talk to him,” Marianne Conlin said. “Like free therapy. It was fun.”
In Northbrook, Conlin volunteered for the Knights of Columbus, served as a bereavement counselor at St. Norbert Parish Church, and took part on the Northbrook Alarm Commission and with other community organizations.
In Wisconsin, he served on the village’s Board of Trustees, the advisory board of Madraigos Midwest, and as a member of the Lions Club.
“I just never realized everything he really did for the community,” Marianne Conlin said Monday. “Everybody I’ve spoken to has nothing but warm things to say about him, how he affected their lives.
Conlin died after a heart attack, Hughes said.
“He was the best husband in the word and always thought of us first and himself second.”
Lustig said Conlin will be hard to replace as psychologist/social worker, but he will have to find someone soon.
“It’s not just counseling, it’s helping some of the people move on with their lives, find jobs, setting up lifestyles for them, helping them rebuild their lives.”
Conlin died after a heart attack, Hughes said.
“John had his first heart attack on his 45th birthday 12 years ago,” she said. “These 12 years have been a blessing for all of us.
“He was a wonderful baby brother.”
Conlin, an Evanston resident, is survived by his wife, his children Sean, Kristina, John, and stepson Jason Bondy and sister Hughes.
Visitation begins at 10 a.m. prior to a Memorial Mass celebrating his life at 11 a.m. Saturday, at St. Norbert Parish Church, 1809 Walters Ave., Northbrook. Burial is private. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dr. John M. Conlin Memorial Fund, Williams Bay Bank, P.O. Box 725, Williams Bay, Wis. 53191.~.
