ROCKFORD—Pat Szpekowski, a correspondent for The Observer, has taken honors from the Illinois Women’s Press Association for stories she wrote for The Observer.

She was honored in the religious writing category for a story about Stanley de Furgalski, a Nazi war camp survivor, and for a story about John and Pat Wisdom, who are “ambassadors” at Presence St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin.

She received three first places, a second, a third and an honorable mention in this year’s IWPA contest.

Szpekowski is president of PmS Advertising, Inc., in Carpentersville. She and her husband, Dan, who is also her photographer, are members of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Dundee.