How detailed is your knowledge of our region? Take our quiz to find out.
It’s easy to take for granted just how many amazing, talented people have made their home in our region and contributed to its success. Before you meet our latest crop of 25 True Inspirations, see if you can identify these individuals – some living, some dead – and the mark they’ve left on northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin. Match up their name and description below.
A. Walter Strong
B. Rick Anderson
C. Paul Nicholson
D. Sagar Patel
E. Becky Baeverstad
F. Jane Addams
G. Chuck Downey
H. Jim Rosmann
I. Chief Black Hawk
J. Linda Zuba
K. Becky Erbe
L. Dorothy Paige-Turner
___1. I was the youngest naval aviator of World War II, beating out former President George H.W. Bush by 11 days.
___2. I’m an award-winning singer and retired music educator who once dreamed of being a professional opera star.
___3. People say I still overlook the land where my people once lived, but what they really see is a tribute to those who were here before white settlers.
___4. Before I became a legendary social reformer aiding Chicago’s poor, I was a child in Cedarville, Ill., and a university student at a Rockford women’s school.
___5. Some 200 critters, many exotic, now reside at my family’s farm, which has become a zoo for rescued animals.
___6. Though I spent nearly three decades in the floral business before my recent retirement, I’ve worked with flowers most of my life, thanks to my mother’s and grandfather’s interests in horticulture.
___7. I was born in Colombia and moved to Rockford as a youth. I now use my work as an attorney to fight for the rights of other immigrants.
___8. Having earned my fortune through Chicago’s publishing industry, I built a castle-like retreat near the river in Oregon, Ill.
___9. My new office in Loves Park, Ill., is a testament to the strength of Rockford’s aerospace industry. I’m a big advocate for workforce development.
___10. My grandfather started a hardware business that’s still a familiar destination in Rockford’s Midtown District.
___11. After years of farming in Iowa, my wife and I now raise cold-climate grapes that tap into the rich limestone deposits below our winery near Freeport, Ill.
___12. Technically speaking, I lead two churches in downtown Rockford, but we all worship together under a single roof.
Quiz Answers
1. G., Chuck Downey
2. L., Dorothy Paige-Turner
3. I., Chief Black Hawk
4. F., Jane Addams
5. B., Rick Anderson
6. E., Becky Baeverstad
7. J., Linda Zuba
8. A., Walter Strong
9. D., Sagar Patel
10. C., Paul Nicholson
11. H., Jim Rosmann
12. K., Becky Erbe