January 28, 2002

Madigan Adds Outstanding Citizen to Her List of Awards

BY BILL LAIR Managing Editor

CHARLESTON -Joyce Madigan came to Charleston as an Eastern Illinois University student and never left.

After years of involvement in various organizations, Madigan was recognized as the city's 2002 Outstanding Citizen of the Year Saturday at the Charleston Area Chamber of Commerce annual dinner.

Madigan, a partner in the accounting firm of Gilbert, Metzger and Madigan, has been involved in Coles Together, Coles County Sunrise Rotary, the Charleston and Coles County strategic plans, St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, professional organizations and the EIU Accountancy Advisory Board. 

 "It's easy to sit back and criticize, but it's important to get involved," Madigan said. "I believe in giving back. If you want a say in things, you need to get involved."

 She said that she and her husband, Matt, started out in Charleston 25 years ago in married student housing at Eastern.

 "We never left. We put down deep roots," she said. "I'm not sure that we planned to stay. We found good jobs and then thought, 'Why leave?"'

She said two of the special projects that she has been involved in were the strategic planning efforts for both the city and Coles County.

"I think you do have to plan," she said.

A current board member of Coles Together, Madigan is a past president of the economic development group.

 "Coles Together holds a special place in my heart," she said. "I think (with Coles Together's formation) we found a new way to bring companies in. We have made a lot of progress. It takes time and energy. A lot of good people are involved."

The last 12 months will long be remembered by Madigan.

Last spring she received the EIU Lumpkin School of Business Distinguished Business Alumnus Award and then received the East Central Illinois Development Corp. Business Ethics and Social Involvement Award, before learning in December that she would receive the chamber's Outstanding Citizen honor.

She also was selected as an Illinois Woman of Achievement last year based on her service to the community and Eastern Illinois University.

 "I'm very touched and feel very blessed, " she said. "There are so many good people who could receive this award. It's very overwhelming."

Madigan graduated from EIU in 1980, earning a bachelor's degree with a double major in accounting and computer management.

After graduation, she joined the accounting firm of Larsson, Woodyard and Henson as a staff accountant in the Charleston office and obtained her certified public accountant certificate in 1983. She made partner in 1988. In 1995, she joined with other principals in the Charleston office of Larsson, Woodyard and Henson to form the current partnership of Gilbert, Metzger & Madigan.

 She has been an instructor for Illinois CPA-sponsored programs, the Illinois Municipal Treasurers Institute and the Illinois Association of School Board Auditors.

 She is a charter member and former president of the EIU School of Business Accountancy Advisory Board and charter member of Beta Alpha Psi, the accountancy honor society.
Contact Bill Lair at blair@jg-tc.com.

Used with permission from Mid-Illinois Newspapers
Publishers of the Mattoon Journal Gazette and the Charleston Times-Courier