Cecilia LeTourneau:  Life Master

Listen up, all you bridge teachers out there:  Offering lessons pays; in this case, it just struck gold. And listen up all you beginners out there who fancy you might like to “really learn bridge”: Taking bridge lessons prepares one for many long years of friendship and enjoyment.

That’s the moral of the “LeTourneau Story.” Cecilia LeTourneau, that is, one of Unit 239’s most recent Life Masters, who won her gold card at a Lake Geneva regional last April playing with Becky Shephard (Bartlett) in a knockout with Jim and Millie Wing. She started taking lessons from Betty Wade, director of the regular Wednesday club game in Aurora, 15 years ago. Her other regular partners are Jo Lindemann (Geneva) and Mary Comstock (Batavia). And Cecilia wouldn’t have missed a minute of those years or even one the friendships bridge has afforded her.

Cecilia was born and raised in the Chicago area and attended McCormick Business College there. During her career as an executive secretary for the Illinois Central Railroad in Chicago, she met her husband Ernest, who worked in the Chicago office of a steamship company. He is now retired as president of the Ocean Freight Agent Association. The couple moved to Batavia 35 years ago.

The LeTourneaus have four children:  John, of St Louis, a buyer for a grocery chain; David, of Batavia, part owner in a communications company; Scott, who is now looking for employment in Batavia after a stint in the Marine Corps; and Lisa, a Batavia homemaker. They have eight grandchildren.

“Through bridge, I have met a lot of wonderful people over the years,” Cecilia asserts. “Some of them have become just like family. So I do not see making Life Master as a particular goal, or as an end in itself. It’s just one of those wonderful milestones, like a birthday or a graduation, that a family shares together.” 

Donald Cisek:  Life Master

The bridge sojourn of Donald Cisek (St. Charles) typifies the card-table career of many of our Unit’s latest Life Masters:  he began social bridge 30 years ago, only to take up competitive duplicate later in life. He began a serious quest for his gold card in 1998, and attained it at the Rockin’ Rockford Regional last June. He played in a knockout event with John Kinst (Batavia). Their team-mates were John Pree (St. Charles) and Glenn DeVries (Aurora). 

Born in Oak Park and raised in Bellwood, Donald attended the University of Illinois in Chicago and later in Champaign, majoring in business. Later, he received a law degree from Loyola University in Chicago. He spent most of his career in Lisle, working in labor relations for Ceco Corporation, a manufacturing and construction company. He lived in Kansas City from 1989 until 1998.

But then came retirement. And then came St. Charles. “I’m the only person I know who ever retired to the Chicago area,” Donald laughs. “But when I visited here, I found this appealing community in Kane County along the river, so that’s what happened.”  And along with both retirement and St. Charles, of course, came bridge.

Donald and his wife Carol Ann have two children:  Christa, a homemaker in Naperville and Jori, a condo manager in Chicago.

“I owe making Life Master to John Kinst,” Donald confesses. “As one grows older, one needs something to keep one challenged. John is a friend; John is patient; John is a good teacher. But most of all, John is a superb challenger.” 

Karl Dencker:  Life Master

Since January, our Unit has been unusual in the ACBL—in fact, it’s probably been unique. During that time, our Unit President has been a 299er.

But Karl Dencker rectified all that in Lake Geneva in April when he made LM. He was playing in a knockout event with his wife Rajahneen, with Barry and Sue Eckman as team mates.

Karl played social bridge with friends in the 60s, but only took up duplicate seriously in the 80s. Even at that, Karl has made Life Master the hard way -- and many “old timers” in the bridge community will sympathize. Remember those little green slips of paper which club directors used to issue with fractional “rating” points?  One stuffed them in a drawer until they became so ratty and dog-eared that no one could read them. Then one paid $5 in postage to send them all in to the ACBL. Well, Karl didn’t know what those slips were back in the 80s. He threw all his away. “But look what I saved in postage,” he boasts proudly.

He grew up in Ft. Dodge, IA -- in fact, both he and his wife graduated from high school there. He attended State University in Brooklyn NY, where he majored in business and hotel management. (He hadn’t done much with the hotel-management side of his training until he became Unit president, when he undertook some “interesting” negotiations with various Unit tournament venues.)  But Karl got married, moved to Colorado (“Three families of us all sold our homes and moved out there;  I took a temporary job and ended up sticking with it”) where he worked for Collier’s Encyclopedia. He eventually worked his way up to the head office in New York City, but was also “stationed” in Davenport IA, Atlanta GA, and in New Jersey. He traveled extensively during those years, when he was with administrative operations and in sales. Then he got tired of traveling and took a job with a real-estate firm. He was inspired to move to Lake in the Hills when he retired and when his daughter moved there, and has been there for seven years now.

Karl and Raj have two children:  Brock, who is in retail sales in St. Charles; and Karla, a former teacher who is now a homemaker in Lake in the Hills.

Karl has been Unit President since January. He and Raj are both representatives of Unit 239 to the District 8 Board of Directors and often play together at regional tournaments where the District Board meets. “We’ve been together for 53 years,” Karl reflects happily. “We both enjoy theatre -- we have five different theatre subscriptions -- and we like to travel. But now bridge competes with theatre, travel and, of course, grandchildren, for our time.”

Upcoming Tournaments in Unit 239

Rockford Regionals & Rockford Classic Sectionals will all be held at Clock Tower Resort, 7801 E. State, Rockford.

Elgin Spring Sectionals will all be held at Elgin Community College, 1700 Spartan Dr., Elgin.

299er Sectionals will all be held at Elgin Community Center, 123 Symphony Rd., Elgin.

Turkey Bowl Sectionals will all be held at Prisco Community Center, southeast corner of Rt. 31 & Illinois Ave., Aurora.

The Changing Scene . . .

New Junior Masters:  Renee McNitt, Roscoe; Steve Sealin, Cherry Valley.

New Club Masters:  Amnon Harel, Batavia; Dr. Charles Laurx, Aurora; Nelson Turner, Aurora; Peggy Wallace, Dixon.

New Sectional Masters:  William Demlow, Sandwich; Frank Nester, Mt. Carroll.

New Regional Masters:  Richard Frier, Crystal Lake; Jean Larsen, Rockford.

New Life Masters:  Thomas Burke, Aurora;Karl D. Dencker, Lake-in-the-Hills; Cecilia LeTourneau, Batavia.

New Bronze Life Masters:  David Jenkins, Rockford; Susan Mougalian, Algonquin.

New Silver Life Masters:  Brij Kalra, Algonquin.

New Diamond Life Masters:  Jack Snyder, Rockford.