Adeline Jay Geo-Karis (right) observed her 88th birthday on March 29. It was a bittersweet celebration, coming only a week after she learned she would not be re-elected to the Illinois Senate.

But her Senate colleagues surprised her that day with flowers and an expansive tribute: a name change to Adeline Geo-Karis State Park from Illinois Beach State Park, the lakeshore refuge adjacent to her longtime district.

In red, white and blue apparel and apparent good spirits, the Zion Republican had visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield on March 22 for the first time and mused about finding “something else to do after Jan. 10.”

That's the day her 34 years as an Illinois legislator will end. She lost a contentious primary election by 2,100 votes to a woman she had helped politically in the past. Among the issues were the senator's age and health.

Although she had been hospitalized during a bout with the flu and often needed a wheelchair to get around during the campaign, Geo-Karis was sharp as ever.

“I don't feel old,” she said, reminding all that she had missed only one day of the previous legislative session, and that was to attend a funeral. She is co-chair of the Senate Committee on Executive Appointments.

Born in Greece, Geo-Karis entered the U.S. at age 4 and worked her way through college. After graduating from the DePaul University College of Law in 1942, she joined the Navy, became a lieutenant commander and earned top secret clearance as a legal officer in discipline cases.

Discharged at Great Lakes after four years of duty, Geo-Karis opened a law office in Zion and has been a loyal member of the Illinois State Bar and Lake County Bar ever since.

The first woman to practice in Lake County courts, she also was an assistant state's attorney and justice of the peace. Her first venture into politics led to her election as mayor of Zion, an office she held for four years.

Geo-Karis was elected to the Illinois House in 1972 and to the Senate in 1978. She has been an assistant majority leader and a member of the committees on Judiciary, Financial Institutions, State Government Operations, and Pensions and Investments, and the Senate Operations Commission.

Having lost the primary election, only her second challenge in 26 years, Geo-Karis will sit out the November election – a frequent luxury in past years, as she has seldom had a Democrat opponent.

But the new year undoubtedly will bring her new challenges and fresh opportunities to extend a unique continuum of service into its seventh decade.