• Editor’s Note: This is the eighth in a series counting down the top 10 most-read Kane County Connects stories of 2015.

The third-most-read Kane County Connects article of 2015 mourns the loss and celebrates the life of a civic leader.

District 8 County Board member Jesse Vasquez died Jan. 12, 2015, from a heart attack at the age of 51. Kane County Board members, family, friends and the communities of Aurora and Montgomery expressed surprise and sorrow at his passing.

District 2 Kane County Board member Theresa Barreiro remembered him as “a great family friend.”

“If you needed him to do anything, he was there,” she said. “It was just a shock.”

At the first Kane County Board meeting following Vazquez’ death, Thomas (T.R.) Smith led a military salute facing the seat left vacant by his fellow veteran.

“Jesse was one of the leaders on the County Board,” he said.

In March, at Barreiro’s suggestion and with the County Board’s unanimous consent, Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen appointed Maria Vazquez, Jesse’s wife, to serve the 18-month remainder of his four-year term. Maria Vazquez took the oath of office in an emotional ceremony at the beginning of the March 10 County Board meeting.

“Thank you for this opportunity to continue the good work that Jesse has done,” she said.

Jesse Vazquez

Related Articles

• ‘He’s Looking Down and Smiling’ — Maria Vazquez Fills Term of Her Late Husband, Jesse
• Lauzen: My Choice for District 8 Appointment Is Maria Vazquez
• March 1 Memorial Event Will Raise Funds for Family of Jesse Vazquez
• Kane County Remembers Jesse Vazquez, 1963-2015
• Visitation Jan. 18 for County Board Member Jesse Vazquez
• Kane County Board Member Jesse Vazquez Dies Unexpectedly at Age 51

Top Stories of 2015 Countdown

• No. 10: Carpentersville ‘Building a Better Tomorrow … Today’
• No. 9: Missing Elgin Township Man Is Found, ‘Expected to Survive’
• No. 8: Nine Kane Private Schools Make Chicago Area’s Top 10
• No. 7: Trick or Treat!
• No. 6: Little Burlington’s Big Progress
• No. 5: Sheriff’s Office Seizes 157 Pounds of Marijuana
• No. 4: IDOT’s Diverging Diamond Interchange