Justine Dakin Schoeplein, 71, of Urbana passed away at home on Labor Day, September 3, 2012, following a long battle with breast cancer. Known for her passion for progressive politics and her involvement in community affairs, she had lived in Urbana since 1971 and will be dearly missed by family and friends. Justine was born in Boston, Massachusetts on December 17, 1940, the daughter of Russell and Martha (Loehr) Dakin, and grew up in Keene, New Hampshire. After graduating from Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, she went to Hope College in Michigan where she triple majored in political science, history, and English. After earning a Master of Arts in Teaching from Northwestern University as a Ford Foundation Fellow, she finished coursework for a Ph.D. in Educational Administration at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Justine was active in both national and local politics throughout her life. She worked on Senator Eugene McCarthy's 1968 presidential campaign in Wisconsin and Oregon and attended the historic Democratic National Convention in Chicago that same year. Later Justine served as speechwriter and education policy adviser for the first U.S. Secretary of Education during the Carter Administration. In Urbana, she had roles as an election judge and in local campaigns.

Throughout her 41 years in Urbana, Justine was an involved and vocal member of the community. She was a member of McKinley Presbyterian Church and Foundation, and the Unitarian Universalist Church in Urbana. Justine served in leadership roles on the boards of the Channing-Murray Foundation, the Religious Workers Association at the U of I, the C-U Herb Society, and the Friday Forum Lecture Series at the University YMCA. She was a Master Gardener, a member of the Milford Arts Society, and participated in events at the University of Illinois hosted by the Cosmopolitan Group, the Intercultural Friendship Foundation, and the International Hospitality Committee. While her daughter was a student, Justine was actively involved in the Urbana Public Schools and University High School. Throughout her recent illness she continued to work at the Chapel of St. John the Divine and Episcopal Church Foundation at the University of Illinois. Justine is survived by her daughter Melissa Beth Schoeplein of Urbana, Illinois; her former husband Bob Schoeplein of Asheville, NC; her brother and sister-in-law Robert and Mary Dakin of Claremont, NH; and her aunt Mrs. Robert (Mary Frances Loehr) Foster of Hamden, CT. She also leaves her niece, Jennifer, and nephew, Douglas, along with a loving extended family of cousins in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and the Netherlands. A memorial service will be held at a later date this fall. The family requests that gifts in Justine Schoeplein's honor be made to either the University YMCA Friday Forum Lecture Series to raise awareness about national and international issues (1001 S. Wright St. Champaign, IL 61820 or online at http://www.universityymca.org/support_us/; please indicate Friday Forum as the designated fund), or to Camp Takodah of the Mt. Monadnock Region of New Hampshire to support opportunities for youth to experience the outdoors and build lasting friendships (Camp Takodah Campership Fund, Cheshire YMCA, 32 Lake Street, North Swanzey, NH 03431 or http://camptakodah.org/).