DePaul University Athletics
Generous DePaul Donors True Blue Through and Through
5/26/2016 12:00:00 AM | DEPAUL ATHLETICS FUND
CHICAGO - The amazing coincidences and connections running through the lives of Steve and Lenore Micatka makes it seem like this old-school, blue-collar mentality couple was destined to realize their dreams together.
And they were meant to converge at a place like DePaul where offspring of working-class families can work their way through college and thrive in a welcoming environment.
For starters, both of these 1977 graduates were born in St. Anthony's hospital at 19th and California in the city. Their childhoods were spent growing up a mile apart in the Pilsen neighborhood yet never crossed paths as their families belonged to different churches and they enrolled at different grammar schools.
When their families relocated to west suburban Berwyn, Steve attended Morton East High School and Lenore went to rival Morton West. Both of them had cousins going to DePaul.
"We met in a math class at Morton Junior College in 1973," Lenore said. "He claims to have sat in the back row and noticed the blonde up front. We were both accounting majors, wound up in a lot of the same classes and had a lot of friends who went to Morton. We knew a lot of the same people and all of us hung out together.
"Our first date, we saw a movie and went out to eat at the place near Yorktown Mall called the Beef and Barrel. It was a hamburger-and-beer place, similar to the Ground Round."
Steve interjected with a smile: "Nothing but the best for my date."
"Back then, that's all any of us could afford," Lenore added.
Steve's dad worked on a dock making shipping crates and put three kids through college. Lenore's father owned two bars, one in West Chicago and the other at 24th and Western. He would make the commute every day from Berwyn to West Chicago.
"I learned a lot about hard work from my dad and what it takes to get the job done," Lenore said.
That generational resolve and work ethic propelled them through their college years. Both had jobs while assuming a full load of classes.
"I put in 30 hours a week at UPS making $7 an hour," Steve said. "It was hard work but a lot of fun. I could make $7,000 to $8,000 a year and that helped get me through college.
"I eventually became a supervisor there. I lived at home and took the El from Berwyn to Downtown. At times I took night classes while working the day shift. When you're young, it's no problem.
"At one point, we were part of a study group and one of our friends had a side business cleaning offices. We would meet there and hold our study session in this nice office. After we were done, we'd empty the wastebaskets and call it a night."
Their life-defining experience at DePaul combined with the gratitude they feel towards the university and the affection they have for the athletics department has resulted in establishing the Steve and Lenore Micatka Endowed Scholarship. This year's recipient is accountancy student-athlete Miranda Rea of the track and field team.
"We have always looked for ways to give back to DePaul," said Lenore as the couple recently added to their scholarship with a planned gift. "I wouldn't be here today without DePaul."
May is Scholarship Month at DePaul when alumni and alumnae from DePaul's athletic programs engage in a spirited competition to see who can bring in the most scholarship gifts along with raising the most money. Gifts of $25 or more count towards the total.
After they earned master's degrees in finance from DePaul in 1985, they launched highly successful financial careers.
Steve worked at a unit of Emerson Electric after college followed by a 27-year career at Illinois Tool Works as a division controller and then Director of Audit Services. Lenore spent two years with accounting firm Ernst and Young before a 30-year career as a financial manager at Morton Salt.
These Blue Demon season ticketholders and avid sports fans were hard at work earlier in the week staining the deck of their west suburban home before heading to U.S. Cellular Field to watch Chris Sale come up short in his bid for a 10-0 start.
"We are big Blue Demon and White Sox fans," Lenore said. "We both enjoy sports and get a lot of joy going to games or watching on TV. Going to DePaul games, you know there's always a chance of pulling off a big upset. We saw the Blue Demons beat Louisville when they were a highly ranked team. We've been season ticketholders for 34 years.
"We didn't have time to watch sports in college between classes and work. After graduating, it was a blast going to games. DePaul had some really good teams in the late 1970s and early 80s. We got to see teams like Georgetown, Notre Dame and Louisville. We saw Patrick Ewing play for Georgetown and saw future NBA players like Mark Aguirre, Terry Cummings, Dallas Comegys and Tyrone Corbin from that era.
"I enjoy it so much. We've made some lifelong friends with other season ticketholders who sit around us. I really like the social aspect of going to games."
Two more coincidences brought a connection to a legendary Blackhawks player.
"We got married in 1979 at St. Mary of Celle Parish right across the street from where Lenore grew up," Steve said. It's the same church that Stan Mikita attended.
"You know, our last names aren't that far off. In fact, we both used the same dry cleaner in Westchester and his shirts were on the rack right next to mine. I always told the people not to mix up my shirts with Stan Mikita."
Their love of sports was fueled at the competition level. Lenore played basketball at Morton while Steve was a four-year football player in high school under former Bears scout Ken Geiger followed by two years in junior college.
"We were both pretty athletic," Steve said. "I also played a lot of 16-inch softball in the city bare-handed and then 12-inch softball in the suburbs with gloves."
There's no doubt in this season ticketholder's mind that DePaul is on the rise.
"I like coach Dave Leitao a lot and thought he did a good job the first time around," Steve said. "If he would have stayed here and not gone to Virginia, he could have owned the city.
"I realize it will take a couple of years to get the program going again once he brings in the players he needs. He wants guys who play the game the way it should be played. I'm so excited about the coming season.
"I went to the D-Club golf outing last year and listened to athletics director Jean Lenti Ponsetto talk about the grade-point averages of our student-athletes. I was totally blown away. The list of outstanding student-athletes and their GPAs was very impressive."
Steve and Lenore's loyalty and pride are true blue through and through.
"We had given back to DePaul for academics and through the Champions Club," Lenore said. "We were at a season ticketholders event and Lemone Lampley was thanking us for everything we did. He explained to us how an endowed scholarship works and we decided to create one for an accountancy student-athlete. Then we found out Illinois Tool Works would make a three-to-one matching donation."
"I will always be supportive of DePaul because of people like Jeanne," Steve added. "An endowed scholarship is an opportunity of giving longer and better to help our student-athletes."
Players Mentioned
