On the record with Mary McCauley

By KEVIN P. CRAVER - kcraver@nwherald.com

Mary McCauley is retiring after 40 years in the juvenile probation department. (Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@nwherald.com)

Fresh out of college, Harvard resident Mary McCauley took a job with McHenry County as a juvenile probation caseworker. She never left.

McCauley retired Oct. 30, after 40 years on the job. She started as a secretary because the funding for her position had not yet cleared, and ended her career as supervisor of the juvenile probation department.

Senior reporter Kevin Craver took some of her newfound free time to talk to her about her experiences, although it sounds like she has no intention to sit idle.

Craver: How did you get your start?

McCauley: I had to work as a secretary for three months because the budget had not yet opened up for a probation officer. So from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1, 1969, I worked as a secretary. On Dec. 1, I became a full-fledged probation officer in the juvenile division.

Craver: The more things change, the more things stay the same. [The state recently slashed funding for county probation departments.]

McCauley: Isn’t that the truth. I’m sure my position will go unfilled for a little while.

Craver: What were your responsibilities as supervisor?

McCauley: For the last several years, I had five probation officers I supervised. They each had juvenile case loads, and I advised them on decisions. We stacked cases together, trying to develop the best plan for these individuals, and I worked as a court liaison.

Craver: Working with troubled children is a tough job. How did you separate work from your private life?

McCauley: For a period of time, I didn’t. You always took it home. You worried about it, you dreamt about it all weekend. As I became supervisor, I could put some of that aside, and with raising three sons, I was always busy when I got home.

Craver: What’s changed since 1969?

McCauley: I suspected you might ask that question. Thinking about it, hardly anything has changed. We’re still dealing with the same problems. Kids come from broken homes, they have parents who cannot provide the structure and support that is needed.

There are drug and alcohol problems – they were causing problems from the first day I worked until the last. Even back in 1969 there were gangs, but in a different sense. It’s just uncanny that the same problems are there now that were there way back when.

Craver: Did you ever hear back from wayward kids that you put back on the straight and narrow?

McCauley: I have, which is probably the most rewarding thing about the job. Sometimes you hear from them, years later. I have had some come back who actually made it through high school, made it through college, got very good jobs, and have succeeded.

And their words always were, thank you for being firm and sticking to the structure to get me through the problems I was having as a child. It’s very rewarding, Unfortunately, it just doesn’t happen enough.

Craver: What are you going to do with yourself now?

McCauley: For the last two weeks, I’ve been busy with a new grandchild, which is just thrilling. I plan to do volunteer work – I’m very involved in my church, St. Joseph’s Church in Harvard, where I teach second-grade Christian education on Sundays. I would like to get involved working with the school, getting involved in reading. I went to that school, as did my husband.

We’re starting a PADS site on Thursdays for women and children, and I’m hoping to get involved with that soon.

Craver: Actually, I was asking about what you plan to do for yourself.

McCauley: I attend the opera. I go to the Lyric Opera House about four times a year, which I truly love. I want to take a bigger interest in gardening, which I never had the chance to do before. My husband isn’t retired yet, but we do plan to take some trips. My son is a doctor in Boston, and I have a sister and my college roommate in San Antonio. Our ultimate trip is to get to Ireland.

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