Sue Hack speaks at a Leadership Lawrence event Friday, April 27, 2012, after receiving the 30th annual Don Volker leadership award.

Sue Hack got emotional. Taken by surprise, the kind words about her from Nelson Krueger caused her to blot her eyes.

“But what about Michelle and Patrick?” she asked.

The crowd laughed. Michelle and Patrick would be OK; it was Hack’s honor to be had.

Hack, a former Lawrence mayor, was presented with the Don Volker Leadership Award by Krueger and other members of Leadership Lawrence, a business group aimed at improving the community through partnerships, at an award ceremony Friday night at Maceli’s, 1031 N.H.

She thought the award was going to Michelle Fales and Patrick Kelly, but the two, plus several members of the 2012 Leadership Lawrence class, surprised her with the award.

Fales said Hack, who works with the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce, was always giving the award to others, so the class decided to switch things up with the surprise.

Krueger, who knew Volker and was in the first Leadership Lawrence class, described Hack in his introduction as “a mentor and an inspiration.”

Hack said she was “so blessed to be able to work with a group of people so helpful.”