Stricken Trustee Back on Job Quickly

Not only did Capistrano Unified School District trustee Mildred Daley Pagelow survive a massive heart attack Oct. 12, she only missed one board meeting before returning to the dais Monday.

Pagelow, 71, said she was feeling better and that friends drove her to the meeting because she is not supposed to drive yet.

The former sociology professor said she hurried back because she didn’t want to disappoint those who helped her get reelected last year.

“Those people worked so hard, and the people who voted for me,” she said. “I am obligated to be here.”

Pagelow has said she cannot bear to miss a single meeting. From her hospital bed last month, she asked school board officials to put her on a speaker phone for the Oct. 20 meeting. Her doctors advised her against the move, but that didn’t stop her from calling in a message.