Edinburg superintendent Theilen remembered as 'amazing teacher, devoted father'
The Edinburg community is mourning the loss of school superintendent Ben Theilen of Springfield, who died Tuesday after being diagnosed last month with pancreatic cancer.
Theilen, 44, was formerly a teacher and an administrator in the Pleasant Plains school district before moving to the Edinburg district in 2019.
Kris Theilen, a Springfield Park District trustee and former Ward 8 alderman, called his younger brother "an amazing teacher, a loving husband, a devoted father and a wonderful family-oriented person."
"There was not a kid he didn't want to help," Theilen said Thursday, about his brother. "Everyone loved him as a teacher, as an educator. He was very much focused on what was best for the kids."
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In a statement Thursday, Edinburg principal Ashley Francis said Theilen's loss "has been absolutely devastating to our Edinburg school family and the educational community in central Illinois. Throughout his career, Ben has been a dedicated educator, administrator and leader who genuinely cared about students and worked hard to help them succeed. He has done so much for our students and the Edinburg School District. We will miss his humble leadership, his positive attitude, and his genuine concern for others. Our deepest prayers and support are with his wife, Morgan, and his children as we all navigate life without Ben moving forward."
Theilen was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer after doctors located a mass on Nov. 10. He was set to begin treatment before he suffered a lung infection.
A graduate of New Berlin High School, Theilen student taught at Auburn while attending Eastern Illinois University. Theilen also earned a master's degree from Eastern Illinois.
He spent a year in the Ball-Chatham school district before going to Pleasant Plains as an eighth-grade math teacher and coach. Theilen later became an assistant middle school principal and then middle school principal at Pleasant Plains.
Theilen met his wife, Morgan M. Park, at Pleasant Plains, where she still teaches. Two of their children, Grayson and Monroe, attend Pleasant Plains schools.
Pleasant Plains superintendent Luke Brooks called Theilen "a compassionate educator."
"He always had a soft spot for the underdog and worked really hard for all types of kids," Brooks said. "On top of it, he was a really good human being."
School District 186 Superintendent Jennifer Gill said she worked with Theilen through a division with the Illinois Association of School Administrators. Both also had an early morning workout routine at a Springfield YMCA.
"(Whenever we could), we would stop and talk about whatever it was we had on our plates at our respective school districts and kind of check in on one another," Gill said Thursday. "He was just a great young man who had his career ahead of him and his whole life ahead of him. He always spoke first of his family and the things they were involved in and his dedication to learning the craft of becoming a superintendent at Edinburg. I'm going to miss those conversations greatly and I wish the best to his family. It was very fast and very tragic."
Gill said while the Edinburg and Springfield districts were different in their makeup, she and Theilen could speak the same language when it came to problems they faced.
"That's a small district and the superintendent wears every single hat from making sure all of the bus routes are filled in the morning to making sure the day runs smoothly," Gill said. "I know that was a challenge for him, but he was always upbeat and looking forward and thinking how he could make his district the best place it could be.
"Our jobs are different but the same all at once. There's still only one of you and you still have to shoulder the burden of making sure everything runs smoothly. In Edinburg, you can meet and greet almost every student every day, but then that's also difficult because there's not a lot of excess people to help you accomplish the tasks."
Edinburg is 25 minutes southeast of Springfield in Christian County.
Kris Theilen said his brother was an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, who also rooted for the Las Vegas Raiders and University of Illinois Fighting Illini basketball.
Ben Theilen earned his superintendent endorsement from Illinois State University.
Visitation will be at West Side Christian Church, 2850 Cider Mill Lane, Springfield, from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday, and the funeral is 10 a.m. Tuesday at the church. Staab Funeral Home is handling arrangements.
Theilen's loss is a reminder, Gill said, of how "fragile life can be. It's a lesson to hug our families tighter."
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Morgan M. Theilen for their children’s education fund.
Contact Steven Spearie: 217-622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: A Christian County school superintendent has died after a short illness
