Betsy Voss Lease
Giving and Connecting Community
~ by Julia Pearson
Betsy Voss Lease moved to Brown County in 1996 and began to share her talents as an organizer and volunteer almost immediately upon her arrival. Her first volunteer job in the community was working with the development of a transition plan between services for children birth-to-three and their families, and the school system.
Betsy attended schools in Illinois: Roosevelt Elementary School in South Holland, and graduated from the Thornton Township High School in Harvey. With an undergraduate degree in special education specializing in deaf education, and a masters in speech and language pathology from Illinois State University, Betsy has had a rich career.
As Program Director for special education programs in the 55 school districts of South Cook County, Betsy excelled and garnered much
Betsy Voss Lease with the totem carved by David Bruce Voss. photo by Cindy Steele
attention in the field. She received many personal, state, and national awards for outstanding work and programs for children with all types of disabilities in birth-to-three, early childhood, and communication development.
The joy of her personal life was raising her children. Her daughter, Kimberly Paarlberg, who is an architect / engineer, lives with her husband, Eric Wespestad, in Carmel, Indiana. Her son,
24 Our Brown County • Jan./ Feb. 2015