Community Calendar

A building dedication service will be held for the Suzette Brumleve Memorial Effingham Public Library on Tuesday, June 13 at 11 a.m.

 During the dedication ceremony a plaque for Suzette Brumleve will be unveiled at the Library’s west entrance on Third Street by Holly James, one of Suzette’s daughters.

 The ceremony will be followed by refreshments in the Library’s Café Area.

 A donation of $400,000 from the COHIHO Foundation to the Library’s Building Fund in 2016 brought the foundation’s donations to the Library to $500,000 and closed out the Library’s initial $2 million fundraising campaign towards the costs of renovating the facility, which it moved in to in September 2015.

The donation was made in honor of Suzette Brumleve and the building that houses the library at 200 N. Third Street is now named the Suzette Brumleve Memorial Effingham Public Library, and will be for a period of 75 years in her honor.

 The COHIHO foundation was set up by Joe and Suzette Brumleve, Effingham natives who tragically died in a plane crash near their Colorado home in 2008. The COHIHO Family Foundation was uniquely named based on the names of the Brumleve’s three daughters, Corrin, Heidi and Holly. The focus of the COHIHO Foundation is based on three principles; Philanthropy, Service and Stewardship.

 The Brumleve’s established the foundation in May 2000 from the proceeds gained through the sales of the successful businesses they established over the years. Businesses such as Brumleve & Dabbs, Professional Software Inc., Focussoft and Eaglesoft were started in Effingham, providing fulfilling careers and impacted hundreds of families in the community.

The work of their foundation is carried on by their three daughters who saw the donation to the library as a worthy tribute to their mother Suzette who trained as an elementary teacher at the University of Illinois and recognized the work of libraries in supporting literacy in their communities.

The children’s department is named the Suzette Brumleve Children’s Area in respect of a $100,000 donation made in in 2015 by the COHIHO Family Foundation. In case of rain the ceremony will also take place in the café area.

To contact the library with questions call (217) 342-2464 or email infor@effinghamlibrary.org.ette