Our beloved wife, mother, daughter, sister and dear friend, Deborah L. Lenart, age 54, passed away on Wednesday, April 23rd. Deb will forever be cherished by all members of her family; she is survived by her loving husband of 26 years, Joe; her three children, Ross Joseph, Torey, and Tayler; her parents Eugene and Jacqueline Novakowski; her sister Danielle (Phil) Campolo, nephew Braden, and niece Elena; her sister-in-law Pamela (Robert) Lavin; her brother-in-law Theodore (Joyce) Lenart; nieces Michele, Nicole, and Katie, four great-nieces and one great-nephew; and her dog Jamaica.

Deb was a transformational leader who managed growth and innovation in consumer and business-to-business service companies for over 25 years. Her entrepreneurial leadership style and passion for delivering award-winning customer experiences were her hallmarks. She led multi-billion dollar divisions in publicly traded companies, served as CEO of venture backed startups, and turned around private equity portfolio companies in crisis. Under Deb's leadership, these firms won awards for innovation and product/branding success including the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, Frost and Sullivan's Best New Product Award, Forbes Advertising Excellence, Venture Wire's Network Outlook Top 10 Award, and the Congressional Tech Caucus Recognition. She also led a joint venture with The Walt Disney Company recognized in the Wall Street Journal. She was involved with key legislative and regulatory policies and testified on numerous occasions as an expert before the US House of Representatives and the US Senate on complex regulatory issues involving telecommunications and media and was invited to a White House dinner for select telecom industry executives.

Most recently, Deb served as President and Chief Operations Officer of Education Corporation of America near Birmingham, Alabama. Her previous employment included executive leadership positions at Career Education Corporation, Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), Callipso Corporation, Intouch Communications, EZIAZ, Inc., and Ameritech Corporation.

She delighted in mentoring young entrepreneurs and offering her opinions and business expertise to all who sought her advice. Deb was a voracious reader, but her greatest passion was spending time with her family and friends. She loved traveling and visiting numerous parts of the world with her husband, children, and family members, whether cruising to the Caribbean, experiencing the magical world of Disney, tailgating at South Carolina football games, or showing her Parrothead side at Jimmy Buffett concerts. She enjoyed spoiling everyone with special surprises and sentimental keepsakes, simply for the sheer joy it brought to those she loved. Her generosity was unsurpassed and will never be forgotten.

The funeral mass will be held on Saturday, May 3rd at 12:00 p.m. at St. Mark The Evangelist Catholic Church in Birmingham, AL.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation.

Published in Chicago Tribune on
May 1, 2014