Loretta Alonzo

2012 IAR President Loretta Alonzo

Last night the Illinois Association of REALTORS® celebrated its new leadership for the year ahead as REALTOR® Loretta Alonzo, CRB, GRI, of Romeoville was installed as the 2012 president of our state association representing 44,000 Illinois REALTORS®.

Alonzo is a 36-year veteran of the real estate business and the broker-owner of Century 21 Alonzo & Associates in LaGrange Park. She is a past president of the Century 21 Chicagoland & NW Indiana Broker Council and past president of the West Suburban Chapter of the Women’s Council of REALTORS®.

“Challenges bring tomorrow’s opportunities, and that is a theme that hits close to home for me,” said Alonzo, to the crowd of more than 200 of her peers in Illinois real estate gathered for the installation ceremony.

Alonzo’s family history is a story of the American dream. Her grandfather came to America from Guadalajara, Mexico, working on the railroad through Texas and Colorado before arriving in Chicago.

Said Alonzo: “He came to America to find a better life. He and his wife Maria faced overwhelming challenges and hard work but persevered to build a life together for their family here in America. They never had the opportunity to be homeowners, but everyone of their six children did as well as all 26 of their grandchildren, including me.”

Alonzo, a member of the Mainstreet Organization of REALTORS®, is a two-term past president of the former West Towns Board of REALTORS®.  She is a licensed Illinois continuing education instructor and was named Woman of the Year by the Mexican-American Business & Professional Women’s Club. She is a past president of the Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois, now known as Midwest Real Estate Data, LLC.

REALTOR® Michael D. Oldenettel, CRS, GRI, managing broker-owner of RE/MAX Results Plus in Jacksonville was installed as the 2012 president-elect of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.

REALTOR® Phil Chiles, ABR, CRS, GRI, broker-associate with the Real Estate Group in Springfield was installed as the 2012 Treasurer of the Illinois Association of REALTORS®.

Immediate Past President REALTOR® Sheryl Grider Whitehurst, ABR, CRB, GRI, e-PRO, managing broker of Traders Realty in Peoria, will continue to lend her expertise on the IAR Leadership Team after serving as president in 2011.