Brenda Langstraat Bui, CEO of Chicago Public Library Foundation, dies at 52

Brenda Langstraat Bui, who served as CEO of the Chicago Public Library Foundation, died at her home in the West Loop Friday evening, the foundation announced Monday.

She was 52.

"It is with the deepest sorrow that we share the heartbreaking news that our beloved Chicago Public Library Foundation President & CEO, Brenda Langstraat Bui, passed away on Friday evening as a result of a tragic accident at her home," a news release issued by the foundation said without providing any additional details about her death.

Her husband, Ve Bui, said the cause of her death has yet to be determined and declined to provide additional information. A spokeswoman for the Cook County medical examiner's office said the cause and manner of her death were pending.

"Brenda was profoundly devoted to her work for the Chicago Public Library system and the foundation. Words cannot adequately express the depth of our sadness and grief at losing her far too soon," the news release stated.

The foundation raises private funds that pay for a multitude of programs and activities run out of city libraries.

Mrs. Bui was known for her big smile, endless energy and inspirational leadership.

She took the reins at the foundation in January 2019, about 15 months before the onset of the pandemic.

"She has been a passionate advocate to ensure that our library system is a thriving force for all of Chicago’s residents," foundation board chair Bob Wislow said.

"Brenda didn’t just champion reading. She lived it," said Chicago Public Library Commissioner Chris Brown. "She volunteered her time reading to our youngest Chicagoans through Working in the Schools (WITS), and she brought real joy and care to the broader work of literacy we share through the library and foundation."

Mrs. Bui was CEO of WITS, a non-profit that runs literacy programming, for seven years before joining the foundation. Prior to that she headed up a non-profit that raised funds for the Chicago Park District.

"She was full of love, life and joy. She was in her dream job and she loved Chicago," said Michael Fassnacht, vice chair of the library foundation's board.

"I think her legacy was broadening and democratizing the foundation, broadening the donor base and outreach of the foundation," Fassnacht said.

"She loved reading, she loved a good party, mostly theme parties from the '80s and '90s and she loved getting together with her friends," he said.

Karaoke was one of her favorite activities, and Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" was one of her go-to songs, said her husband, who proposed marriage over dinner at the Signature Room at the top of the John Hancock Center on Dec. 30, 2021.

"I had the waitress videoing and when Brenda tried to grab the ring I said 'You have to say 'yes' first, and say it into the camera.' And everyone was laughing," her husband recalled.

In 2022 the story of how the couple fell in love was written up in the New York Times.

Ve Bui's family fled Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and ended up in Indianola, Iowa. The future couple became kindergarten classmates, attended the same high school, saw each other at high school reunions and ended up working in the same city — Chicago.

It wasn't the only time Mrs. Bui's name appeared in newspapers across the country.

While attending Wheaton College, she visited Buckingham Palace in England. She and six friends camped outside overnight in 1993 so they could be the first American tourists to visit the home of late Queen Elizabeth II, when the London residence opened for the first time ever to the public.

Mrs. Bui, then 19, was interviewed by the Associated Press after touring the palace. "I wouldn't want to live there, it's too impersonal," she said.

Mrs. Bui, who also earned a master's degree in creative writing from University of Illinois Chicago, had a habit of holding on to things, her husband said.

"She kept class notes from high school, like the kind you fold and hand between friends, all the way from sixth grade through high school. We'd look at them and they were hilarious," he said.

Funeral services will take place in Iowa. A memorial service is being planned by the Chicago Public Library Foundation in Chicago.