About Owen Wavrinek

Owen Elementary School is named after one of Indian Prairie School District 204’s dedicated, retired School Board members. Owen C. Wavrinek was appointed to the Board in 1980; he was elected and reelected five times over the next 21 years; and he served as Board president from 1985 to 1989.

While serving as a board member, Owen helped make decisions that benefited thousands of district children. In addition, he worked closely with three superintendents and was proud to be involved in choosing the successors to Superintendent Clifford Crone -- both Tom Scullen and Gail McKinzie. He also remembers when Howie Crouse – District 204's next superintendent – first came to the district as an elementary school principal in 1981.

Owen was influential in helping District 204 meet the challenges posed by its rapid growth, which included involving parents in the preparation and passage of eight referendums. Although he does not have any children of his own, he has attended a countless number of school functions, including school plays, field trips, assemblies, open houses, and sporting events. One of 204’s biggest fans, he was often quoted as saying, “I view all the kids in the district as my kids.”

Although retired from the School Board, Owen continues to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Indian Prairie Educational Foundation, which he serves using his public relations and grant-writing skills. Owen developed these skills during a career at Amoco Corporation in downtown Chicago, where he was a writer, editor and photographer for more than 25 years. He joined the company in 1971 after earning a B.S. in communication arts from Cornell University (1965), doing graduate work in journalism at Syracuse University, serving two years (one in Germany) in the U.S. Army, and learning about the newspaper business as a copy editor at The Post-Standard in Syracuse, NY. Since 1994, he has been working out of his home as a free-lance writer. As such, he prepares quarterly newsletters for the Will County and Cook County 9-1-1 Emergency Telephone Systems.

In addition to Owen’s District 204 experience, education has always played an important part in his family life. His mother, Frances Owen Wavrinek, taught third and fourth grades in south suburban Matteson, Ill., for more than 20 years; his father, Clifford, served on the Rich Township High School Board of Education in Park Forest; and his Aunt Genevieve (Jenny) Owen, now 91, taught elementary school students in or near North Salem, Ind., for 53 years. Also, as a volunteer for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago, he helped “teach” his Little Brother Josh Barton, who lived across the street from the Lincoln Park Zoo. Now 43, Josh has his own business in Bangalore, India, and a sone who is almost 12.

Upon learning that the district’s 21st elementary school was going to be named after him, Wavrinek asked the School Board to use his first name rather than his Czechoslovakian last name. “While I am very proud of that name, it often is misspelled and/or mispronounced,” he said. “Going with Owen will be a lot easier for the kids.” Further, he indicated that calling the school Owen also would honor the educators from the Owen side of his family (Owen was his mother’s maiden name).

He is the second School Board member in the district’s history to be honored by having a school named after him. (The other was the late Gordon Gregory, who was a neighbor of Owen’s.)

Although he recently moved to a townhouse in Aurora (not far from Waubonsie Valley High School and just down the road from Metea Valley High School), Owen resided in unincorporated Naperville for nearly 34 years. He and others have often referred to his Naperville and Aurora homes as the "museum" – because of all the artwork, masks, and artifacts that are displayed. His home decor reflects his travels to Asia (Thailand, Singapore, Bali, Jakarta, and Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur), Canada, Mexico, and South America (including Colombia; Ecuador; the Galapagos Islands; and, during the summer of 2009, Peru). Also, he served several years as president and newsletter editor of the North Wheatland Township Homeowners Association, which he helped create in 1974.

Obviously a big believer in volunteerism, Owen has made a personal commitment to giving back to the community in which he lives. “Perhaps, my next challenge should be to help save the world’s sea turtles, whales, or coral reefs – along some undetermined secluded beach,” he said. “But whatever I do and wherever I go, the Owen Owls will be Number One -- on my mind and in my heart.”