Regina Dominican’s Advancement Office is known among students as a place to talk with staff, have some candy, and get to know and love its sweet staff. The newest addition to the department is Mrs. De Preter.

Mrs. De Preter grew up as an only child born and raised in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She attended George Washington High School, one of seven high schools named after presidents in the city. In 1995, Mrs. De Preter went to the University of South Dakota, where she minored in art. She switched majors moving from biology to graduating with a degree in history. Mrs. De Preter took many history classes alongside her original major, and sophomore year she had found out during registration that they changed her major because of this. She never decided on changing back, leading to her graduation as a history major.

For 23 years Mrs. De Preter has been a competitive sailboat racer. In her free time, she makes modern quilts. Mrs. De Preter says she makes about 20 quilts a year. As of Sept. 9 she had 4 quilts in the works.

Before Regina, Mrs. De Preter worked at Sur la Table in Old Orchard as a floor manager for about 9 years part time. For 14 years prior to that, she worked as a fundraiser. Currently she is up in advancements doing what she considers to be a similar positions.

Today, Mrs. De Preter lives in Chicago with her dog, her husband, Chip, and her two sons, who are in grades 5 and 9, respectively.