Anita Bartschat Attends Last Meeting as Northville School Board Member

Though Anita Bartschat has only served on the Northville school board for six months, she has served the district in other ways for several years before that.

On Tuesday, she attended the last meeting of her term as a member of Northville's school board. Bartschat will soon be moving with her family to Germany. Bartschat was honored at the meeting by state Rep. Kurt Heise (R-Plymouth), a representative from the office of state Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton) and others in the community.

"I worked with Anita Bartschat during my tenure in Lansing," Heise said, adding that she was a "strong advocate for all of us."

The mother of four students in the district previously served as president of Northville's Legislative Action Network (LAN).

School board president Dottie Garrity presented Bartschat with a gift and said she will be missed.

"You have been amazing to work with and I really enjoy working with all of you," Bartschat told her board colleagues.

She also praised administrators, saying that they were doing a good job leading the district.

Her successor, is attorney Matthew Wilk. His first board meeting will be on July 9.

Wearing many hats

On the Northville Patch Facebook page, several people wrote well-wishes for the outgoing school board member, some reflecting on her service to .

"Anita would be directing the drop off traffic in all weather. She also persisted for a safe route and flow and for everyone to obey it via messages from the office and open forum," wrote Anita Berger. "She also was a relentless Red Cross proponent and had well-organized events. Always a smile to greet you. Thanks for all your hard work and your years of dedication to our children and district."

In addition to her activities on the school board and LAN, Bartschat founded and fund-raised for the non-profit Christoph's A.L.L. Stars. She created the organization after her son was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The organization raises funds for the Children's Hospital of Michigan.

Bartschat also around the district and previously said she and her son organized them as a way to give back. Her son received many transfusions while he was being treated for ALL.