By: Kim Snider

Georgia's Life and Career

Georgia Costello was born and raised in a small farming and coal mining community. Born in Herrin, Illinois, she lived in Sesser until she was two years old and it is the place she still calls home. Her family still owns a farm there. Since her father's passing the farm has been on a crop rotation plan to help the ground, and her mother opted to plant trees and allow for a habitat. Her family of three children and seven grandchildren love Rend Lake and enjoy fishing and hunting in the area to this day.

When Georgia was little her father was a dedicated Guernsey farmer, also planting crops. Her mother's parents were coal miners. Her grandfather was the Superintendent of Coal Miners in Southern Illinois, but died young. Georgia is proud of her heritage and family of hardworking people who were always involved in the community and church.

The family moved to Benton for a time during Georgia's kindergarten and first grade years while her father worked with the bank, helping farmers acquire money, and he taught future farmers while her mother taught 5th and 6th grade.

Georgia is the baby with an older brother, John, and an older sister, Brenda. The family also lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a time until the end of Georgia's 6th grade year. The family "thoroughly enjoyed living there" and stayed because her uncle owned a lawn and maintenance business, and with her father's agriculture background, he enjoyed the work. Florida is still her home away from home and she still goes back to visit family there.

Her father was an only child and when his father passed away they moved back to Sesser to take care of the farm and to help his mother out. It was at this point life really started for Georgia. She attended Lansdowne Junior High from 7th through 9th grade. She participated in as many sports as she could, as this was before Title IX, which allowed girls to participate in sports. She participated in the Gaelic Athletic Association, played Intramural sports, and participated in dance all her life.

In her junior year of high school Georgia realized she wanted to go to college and it was expected by her parents that she would continue her education. However, her brother was killed two years prior in a tragic accident and her sister was in California teaching. It was a trying time for the family, and Georgia wondered how to afford college. She decided to move to Belleville where if she were a one-year resident, she could go to college for &5 a credit hour. The college was then still Belleville Area College (now Southwestern Illinois College) and classes were held at the now East High School campus. So in the spring of 1967 Georgia graduated from Belleville Township high School West, the last class to do so before the referendum passed to build what is now Belleville East High School.

The summer prior to starting BAC Georgia again met and began to communicate with Jerry Costello. They had been sweethearts at the tender age of 12 back in East St. Louis when he lived on 43rd and she lived on 44th street.

"I thought he was pretty cute. He wore an Assumption jacket, St. Louis Brown orange shoes and a burr haircut," she says, but they eventually went their separate ways. By the end of high school they had dated here and there, but Georgia knew for sure she was going to college and that was her number one priority. During her first year of college they were dating more, she was at BAC and Jerry wanted to go to Danville College because it was the only college that offered the Criminal Justice program. She was considering transferring to Carbondale or she could stay at BAC. Since they didn't want to be split up they did what teenagers in love sometimes do: They got married. They were both 18 and both of their mothers cried.

Within a year they had their oldest son, Jerry. Gina was born two years later and four years later John was born. They had three children by the age of 25.

They both stayed at BAC, and the then current Mayor Nichols was a great mentor to them and "it was an honor to have him as a friend." A number of people influenced her and Jerry during these years, including many instructors and teachers at what is now SWIC.

"Every day is a learning experience. The greatest gift we have is the opportunity to learn, always."

Primary on their list of goals was for Jerry to finish college, so he started his junior year of college at the University of Missouri - St. Louis and his senior year at Maryville, graduatin sg in 1973. Their children were still very young, John having not been born until 1975, but now it was Georgia's turn to finish college. She applied for and received a scholarship to go to McKendree College, of which Mrs. Costello is proud to be a Board of Trustees member for her third year now.

Jerry was still thinking of law school, but financially they couldn't handle it until Georgia finished school and went to work. Within two weeks of knowing about the scholarship waiting for her, Georgia found out she was pregnant with John. Surprised, they decided she would just go to school pregnant. So she went to college, carried John and he was born in April of 1975 and she returned to school in May to finish her finals for the year. She was fortunate to find a nice lady to help her care for John while she finished school. In May 1977 she finished her undergraduate studies with the help of both their parents and her sister.

At this time Jerry's career was beginning to escalate. Opportunities continued to lead him to law and law enforcement. Luckily for Georgia, immediately after graduating she found a job with District 118 as a "rover" Physical Education teacher. She and three other teachers would visit all the primary schools, she at Roosevelt, Douglas, and Abe Lincoln. She did this for five years and then in 1983 Betty Justice was retiring as the P.E. teacher at Central Junior High. Georgia was hired to fill her place.

In 1980, Jerry's career had taken off as he was County Board Chairman for St. Clair County, and their children, as Mrs. Costello puts it, "were in a fish bowl all their lives and under scrutiny, not by their choice, but because of ours. And still they take us back in and love us after each election. Jerry was young and successful as County Board Chairman with vision and determination and huge goals for St. Clair County," and he succeeded.

With these accomplishments under his belt, he made a run for U.S Congress in 1988. In the interim, Georgia stayed on as teacher at Central and began her master's work through Carbondale.

When Jerry was elected to Congress, she stayed with the district for a while, but then took a break to work on her research paper for her masters. There was much excitement being a congressional wife. She was proud of her husband and anxious for her family. The kids were in their crucial years with John in high school, Jerry in college, and Gina just out of high school, and Jerry had a commitment to distance with his new job.

It was a trying time for the Costello family. Georgia's father passed away in 1990 and Georgia's mother came to live with them shortly after. She was great company and a friend to Georgia during this time.

While Jerry continued with his vision and dreams, doing great things financially for the area, Georgia got involved in Washington, being a part of national and congressional clubs. She could do this because she wasn't working full-time.

By 1993 she had finished her masters and wanted to get back into teaching, so she began subbing. Tom Mentzer, the principal at Central Junior High was another mentor for Georgia and advised her to use her education and "make her credits mean something. We need you. Get into administration." It was at Central that Georgia had what she describes as "the best of both worlds." She had the support of the school and her constant - her family, particularly her children, her mother and her sister who had always been there for her.

In 1995 she accepted a dean position at Central, described as "the worst job in the district," by then Superintendant of District 118, Jim Rossberg. Mark Eichenlaub was the principal, but when he moved Georgia again changed jobs and filled the position. She had been at Central for so many years surrounded by good people. She also recognized the role of Central as a downtown school, out in front and under scrutiny, and welcomed the challenge. She was proud of the staff at Central, the fabulous parents and wonderful teachers who served as shining examples for an inner city school.

After a couple of years as principal, Dr. Rosella Wamser approached her to fill the role as Assistant Superintendent. The chemistry was good between the two and after some consideration and talking it over with her family, Costello became Assistant Superintendent (to Dr. Wamser) for the St. Clair County Regional Office of Education in 2000.

Mrs. Costello accepted an early retirement option in 2005, but that too was about to change.

"In an effort to lighten the load of the budget and without thinking of the ramifications and what the ROE actually does and the work it performs, and to our surprise, the government of Illinois was going to do away with the ROE completely. We lobbied and moved mountains and saved all the ROE's in the state of Illinois," reflects Mrs. Costello. It was then Dr. Wamser offered Georgia the chance to "keep her fingers in the pie" and work 120 days a year. It was during this time she completed her course work to become Dr. Georgia Costello. After much hard work on her dissertation, she received her degree on December 15, 2007 at the age of 58. She is a self-proclaimed life-long learner and really wouldn't want it to be any other way. "Every day is a learning experience. The greatest gift we have is the opportunity to learn, always."

Politics and the Upcoming Elections

Politics is what Dr. Costello describes as "a very serious business, and it's not nearly as glamorous [as people think]. The notion is if you're in politics, you automatically have money. That is not the case with the Costello's. While were not middle class we work very hard for our money."

She remembers while working as a roving P.E. teacher early in her career, she taught third graders in the gym at Abe Lincoln. The principal, Mr. Jobe, came in and handed her an envelope. She asked what it was and he said,"It's your first paycheck." She hugged and kissed him and danced around him and forgot about the class of third graders watching it all unfold. She explained to them, 'Mrs. Costello just got her first paycheck." "And that,' she says "is the reward for working." When asked about funny stories to share as a politician's wife she remarks, "Politics is far more serious than funny, but the greatest reward is meeting all the people, demanding as it is."

They have had a lot of great experiences, even though "everyone expects you to know their name because they know yours." "But there are such good people out there. Americans are givers. [They] have problems or are in situations where they need help and because of the career path Jerry has pursued, he has been able to help a lot of people."

As far as political memories go, one of the more memorable political events happened almost unbeknownst to Dr. Costello, but she knew it looked important, however obscure. She had the privilege of being in the Rotunda Room in Washington D.C. and two young men came through holding large boxes that looked very important. Georgia leaned over to someone to ask what was going on. Inside the boxes were the electoral votes pronouncing the fact that George Bush had been elected President of the United States.

Another time she was in D.C. when Queen Elizabeth made an address at the State of the Union. "No one touched her or got in her space and as you know, as Americans we are pretty huggy-feely. People tried to shake her hand, but she continued to walk in, very proper." From where Dr. Costello was seated she could see a box at the back of the podium. Turns out, the box was for the Queen to stand on because she was too short to see over the podium. On that same visit she got to sit with Prince Phillip, the Queens's husband at dinner. She found him to be "most delightful and very down to earth".

Dr. Costello marvels, not only at the wonderful people she has met who live in and serve this nation, but at the way so many different personalities can come together and pass pieces of legislation. "It's pretty phenomenal, a system that works and has sustained itself in tact with few amendments to the Constitution through the years. Our forefathers were brilliant."

With that, she moves to the upcoming elections. Dr. Costello is a staunch supporter of Senator Hillary Clinton. She has known Hillary since 1990 and committed herself to supporting Senator Clinton's campaign over two years ago, if and when she decided to run for President. While many rally around Senator Obama because he represents Illinois, Hillary Clinton was born and raised in a suburb of Chicago.

She feels that Senator Clinton is someone people can identify with. "Hillary knew early on she wanted to be a lawyer and help people, children, in particular. She has the character and moxy to get things done without a major learning curve." For this reason, Dr. Costello believes "Hillary Clinton will hit the ground running as President and the American people will see the results immediately, especially when it comes to healthcare, something we have to have as a nation. She will be able to work with Congress because of her vast knowledge of compromise... and while we have a long way to go... we have a lot of fences to mend, she will be able to rebuild diplomacy. She'll surround herself with smart people because she's smart... [At the same time] she has the ability to laugh at herself, which is so refreshing. She's gonna be a fabulous President."

Georgia Costello has worn many hats: daughter, sister, friend, wife, mother, student, teacher, dean, principal, superintendent, politico, philanthropist, and perhaps her most famous hat, the wife of Democratic U.S. Congressman Jerry Costello. I know her as my seventh grade P.E. teacher. A woman who gently taught us the birds and the bees and then forced us to wear hideous one piece gym suits and made us take showers after every P.E. class. She was a friend, confidante and defender of many a cranky adolescent girl, myself included. She is a wealth of knowledge and sound advice and every day Dr. Georgia Costello is making the world a better place, and for that this town, this state, this nation is truly blessed to have her.