Needing to update my passport last summer, I headed for the Kane County Clerk’s Satellite Office in downtown Aurora. I was hoping to get help in navigating the process from someone working in that office.
I was lucky enough to meet Rene Romero, who is responsible in that office for passports and for redeeming taxes—accepting payment for current and late taxes. He patiently answered all of my questions, and helped me with assembling my photos and documents. He impressed me as a caring public servant.
We struck up a conversation, and I discovered that Rene was an Army veteran of the Vietnam era. He also seemed proud to tell me that he was 84 years old, was happy in his job with Kane County and had no intention of retiring any time soon.
“It motivates me, and I feel that the community needs the help,” he said. “They need someone who won’t ignore them, and I’m there to help the ones who can’t help themselves.”
On a return visit, I discovered that Rene’s lovely wife, Mary, also works in the office as the vital records clerk. They agreed to meet with me so that I could learn more about their careers of service.
In his current role, Rene views himself as more than just the passport and tax person.
“I have to take my time with each person to help them understand the process, some of those from the Hispanic community,” he said. “The people depend on me, and it’s time consuming. I don’t want them to think they are being cheated in any way.
“And it’s the same with passports. There are many options in the applications that need to be explained.”
Mary and Rene have worked at the Aurora Satellite Office since it opened almost seven years ago, and they were the only workers in that office to start. Previously in their retirement, they had worked at the now defunct Aurora Election Commission, and that led to their being recruited to staff the new Kane County Clerk’s Satellite Office.
Curious about his life before public service, I learned that Rene was born in Texas, and would come to the Midwest in the summers to do field work. As a young adult, he lived in the Chicago area, but returned to Texas and enlisted in the Army in 1963 as the Vietnam conflict was beginning. He volunteered in the Army Airborne as a paratrooper, and recalled the intense training he experienced.
His unit waited for deployment to Vietnam, but that order didn’t come and he was discharged from the Army in 1965. From St. Louis he then moved back to the Chicago area to work.
He recalled that he faced discrimination, and also harassment from immigration officers, solely because of his Hispanic name. He persevered and met his wife during that time. They were married in West Chicago in 1967.
Rene eventually worked for many years as an inventory control supervisor in a multinational corporation, and traveled throughout the United States and Canada in that job before retiring in 2004. Not wanting to sit around, several retirement jobs followed before the Kane County Clerk’s Satellite Office opened in Aurora in 2018.
As we ended our visit, the conversation again returned to their service to Kane County residents. They seem to very much enjoy helping people to the best of their abilities.
“I don’t need people to call me ‘Sir.’ They are my customers, and I care about their needs,” Rene said. “And Jack (Cunningham, Kane County clerk) is a good person. We serve people regardless of anything. Our goal is to make sure to serve everyone.”
“Rene loves to talk to people, no matter who they are,” added Mary. “I’ve always been pretty shy, and am now breaking out of my shell later in life. Rene can talk to a wall and make it talk back to him!”
I sometimes conclude a conversation by asking someone the question “what makes you tick?”
“My family,” Rene answered right away.
The Romeros have three children, six grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
“I want my kids to be proud,” he said. “And my memory of my dad always saying ‘respect others as you respect yourself.’”
Tom Strong is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
