Name: Gerri Long
Major: Business Administration
Home: Nunda, New York
Employer: (Retired) Helen M. Plum Memorial Library
Job Title: Administrative Assistant and Business Manager

GERRI (PEARSON ’62) LONG graduated from Valparaiso University with a bachelor of arts degree in business. For more than four decades, both her personal and professional energies have been devoted to serving her community of Lombard, Ill., within 10 different civic and professional organizations. In 1962, Long began teaching Sunday school and vacation Bible school. She later served Holy Trinity Lutheran Church as a member (1996-2006) and president (2000-2006) of the Church Council, member of the Social Ministry Committee, chair of both the Angel Tree and Open Arms projects, and member of the Altar Guild Committee. Long joined the Lombard Parent-Teacher Association in 1970 and, in 1977, she served as the council's president. In 1972, Long began her decade-long service to the Lombard YMCA Board of Managers, for which she was awarded the President's Award in 1991. From 1979 to 1999, Long was a member of the Lombard Elementary District 44 Board of Education, which she served as a member of various committees prior to her term as president from 1984 to 1999. Long also served the Kiwanis Club of Lombard from 1992 to 2008, including a term as president from 1997 to 1999. Additionally, the League of Women Voters, the Friends of the Helen M. Plum Memorial Library, the Lombard Food Pantry and the Illinois Association of School Boards benefited from Long's leadership, the latter of which presented her with an Award of Merit in 1997. In 1983, Long was recognized as Lombard's Woman of the Year; in 2003 she was honored by the YWCA with the Metropolitan Outstanding Leader Award; and in 2005, she served as the grand marshal of the village of Lombard's Lilac Parade.