Hlavacek, Erika

If you are here at random, you may not know Erika

Hlavacek, 47. But it’s also likely that you have ended up here because you did know and love her.

You may have met her on April 15,1975 as her beloved parents Anna and Antonio Arquilla and big sister Lucia welcomed her into the world in Chicago. It could be that you were her neighbor, friend or classmate in Wood Dale and moving on to Fenton High School class of ‘93 where she was homecoming queen.

A lot of you met her when she pursued her dream of becoming a pilot and chose Lewis University. She graduated early, she was always on the move and working hard for her dreams:

Some of you know her from FlightSafety in Vero Beach or Naples Air Center where she flight instructed after college.

It could be that you knew her in 1999 when she joined Chicago Express Airlines as a First Officer. It was here that she met her future husband, Jeff. They would be married in 2003 after she had moved on to her dream job as a pilot at Southwest Airlines and settled in Chicago.

In 2008 the first of her two proudest accomplishments arrived when her daughter Francesca was born. She was followed eighteen months later by her brother Antonio (or AJ to those who new him those first days). Those of you who lived in her neighborhood remember her for her dedication to her children and the local community. She left a lasting impression at the neighborhood school, where some of you remember how she attacked a problem and got things done, meeting some of her very best friends along the way.

If you work with special needs children, you probably met Erika when Antonio was diagnosed with Autism. Always an advocate for her children, she educated herself on how to do therapy with him, find the best care and advocate for him and others

with the disorder.

Many will know her from Wilmette, where the family moved in 2014 in search of better special education. Her children loved the town and the community welcomed them with open arms. She quickly became a fixture in the community through her children’s school. Her legacy carries on at McKenzie Elementary through RED (Respect Every Difference) week and spectacular hip-hop dancing in the variety show.

It’s a safe bet that the rest of you know her from her world being turned upside down in 2017 when she was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. After the initial shock, in her typical fashion, she fought for the best treatment and refocused her efforts on advocating for lung cancer research. She was a board member at ALK Positive Inc., on multiple committees for industry groups and eventually she founded her own nonprofit, yEAHbestlife. You may not have realized that you knew her when you saw the whole community wearing her Best Life apparel. It was the fulfillment of a dream when she would see strangers wearing her shirts and she was so proud of the funds that she was able to pass on to support lung cancer research.

Or you could have wondered what all of the recent talk of pickles was all about. Last fall, she became a founding parent and founding board member of Pickles Group, a non-profit that benefits children of parents with cancer through peer support groups.

She was so excited watching this organization begin to provide these services to more and more families. All of us who were lucky enough to have Erika in our lives, knew her to be smart, funny, loud, easy to laughter, fun, outgoing, tenacious, a thorn in the side of anyone not doing things the right way, and an amazingly loving mother, wife, sister and daughter. She leaves an outsized void in the world and is so greatly missed.

Visitation Tuesday, May 3, 2022, 4:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. at Donnellan Family Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. at Old Orchard Road, Skokie, IL 60077. Funeral Mass Wednesday, May 4, 2022, 12:00 p.m. at Saints Joseph & Francis Xavier Church, 1747 Lake Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091. To view the Funeral

Mass virtually please go to Erika’s obituary page at donnellanfuneral.com.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to yEAHbestlife at yeahbestlife.org.

Info: donnellanfuneral.com or 847-675-1990.