KATHERINE "KATIE" FELT ARMSTRONG

Throughout her life, Katie Armstrong was a passionate supporter and fierce advocate for all things “green”.

Katie, her husband Jesse, and their growing family moved to Park Forest. When the last of 10 Armstrong children were born, she earned a Bachelor and Master of Science Degree from Governors State University and plunged into an ever-active role in the civic life of the village. 

She was an early member and a long-time volunteer at the South Suburban Food Co-op. A longtime “peace promoter” she led the Women’s Peace Protest group, serving as President of the South Suburban chapter and as a “Draft Educator” counseling young men on how to legally avoid the draft. She served on the Committee for Non-Partisan Local Government. 

A forceful advocate for the environment, Katie volunteered at Thorn Creek Nature Center, was on the Park Forest Environment Commission, and worked with the Thorn Creek Eco-partnership through Governors State to keep Thorn Creek uncontaminated. She helped get a shutoff valve for the oil pipeline next to the Park Forest Wetlands Reclamation Area along the entire right-of-way through Park Forest. In 2002, she served one term on the Park Forest Village Board as a strong advocate for her causes. She was involved in “The Green Party” and a group working for a South Suburban Trauma Center.

She died at the age of 93 in September 2018. 

 

JUNE DEFOE

For nearly six decades, June Defoe and her family were tightly stitched into the web of life in Park Forest. In 1952, June Defoe, her husband Hal, and their three children moved to the fledgling community of Park Forest, and during the next 57 years, they made their home at 303 Oakwood a community showcase, winning more than 20 Village Beautification Awards.

For more than 30 years, June was a teacher in School District 163, bringing fun and love into her kindergarten rooms, and her methods, techniques, and instructions kept the interest of her students. Her efforts were rewarded in 1963 when she received the District’s Teacher of the year award. During the 1960s, she used her educational skills and her love of children to teach Sunday School at Hope Lutheran Church, and from 1997 until her death in December 2009, was an active member of Faith United Protestant Church. June was the den mother for the Cub Scout Pack in which her three sons, Skip, Ron, and Bob were members, as well as became a volunteer at the Coke Shack when her children were involved in the village's youth baseball league.

ANNA BONITA DILLARD & ROY R. DILLARD

Roy and Bonita Dillard moved into Park Forest on a snowy February day in 1968 and brought with them a warmth for the community that could melt the fiercest storm. In fact, that day the snow was so deep their moving truck became stuck. Nothing could stop the Dillards, however.

Through the years Bonita Dillard took an active role with The Homemakers, Brownies, Girl Scouts, and as a Cub Scout Leader. She also served as a Sunday school teacher at Faith United Protestant Church, Hickory Hill School home mother, Kiwanis Club President, a Village Trustee for 14 years, and was an active member in Fellowship for Action, and the Gavin Foundation. Her love, passion, and commitment to Park Forest has always been evident, and remains to this very day.

Roy Dillard owned a successful exterminating business servicing the south suburbs. He was a coach for youth football through the Parks and Recreation Department and was instrumental in the implementation of the Dr. King Room in Freedom Hall. Roy still volunteers for School District 163 and hosts the Dr. King concerts in Freedom Hall. Both the Dillard children, Marla and Rod, exemplified their parents’ involvement in the village, taking part in sports, marching band, and speech teams.

 

JANET FIORENZO

Whatever the cause, whatever the event, you can be sure Janet Fiorenzo is involved. For the last 22 years, or since she purchased Tower Cleaners, she has accrued an impressive list of ongoing contributions to Park Forest and improvements to the lives of its residents. She cleans tablecloths for School District 163, the Park Forest Public Library, and the Police  Department. Altar linens and robes for all faiths. Rugs, doll clothes, and vintage garments for the Historical Society. And all donated clothing and bedding for the Veterans Closet.

In addition, she supports activities of St. Irenaeus Catholic Church, the Kiwanis Club, Pancake Day, the Village’s “Safe Halloween,” and Youth Day. Because of her commitment to the arts, in 2015 she was honored at the Tall Grass Arts Association annual ball, and in 2016 was honored by the local Speakers, Publishers, and Authors Association. A resident of  South Chicago Heights, she is a member of the village’s Library Board, the local Kiwanis Club and helps prepare and distribute holiday baskets for families in need.

For all this and more she is the first person to be twice named Park Forest’s Business Person of the Year, winning the award first in 2009 and again last year.

 

EDWIN FIZER

“A civil rights hero, a military service hero, and national treasure” were the words used in his nomination form to describe Ed Fizer. 

A resident of Park Forest for 41 years, Fizer served on numerous boards and commissions for both Cook County and the Village and became the first chair of the newly established Veterans Commission in the village. 

Shortly after the United States World War II began, Fizer enlisted in the Marine Corps and was sent to the segregated boot camp at Montford Point, N.C., before seeing combat action in the South Pacific. The Montford Point Marines were the first African American members of the Marine Corps and overcame prejudice to distinguish themselves in battle. His wartime experience is recorded in the Society’s “GI Stories from a GI Town” oral history project and by Pritzker Military Museum in Chicago. 

With the end of the war, Fizer first became an optometrist before joining the Chicago Police Department where he took an active role in protecting Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on various occasions. 

In 2011 he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Barack Obama in a ceremony in which the Montford Point Marines were honored. When the Park Forest Veterans Commission was established in 2015, then-Mayor John A. Ostenburg noted that Fizer was a “perfect fit to be the chair.” Among the projects he administered were the Veterans Closet and Resource Center, which provides both free goods and services to all former armed forces personnel.

 

BRUCE ZIEGLE

A true Park Forest resident in every sense, Ziegle served the Village with the Parks and Recreation Department, working in numerous programs even before he graduated from Rich East High School in 1977. It was through his service as a volunteer member of the Fire Department that he found his life’s work. For the next 40 years, he helped protect the community. He became one of Park Forest’s paramedics in 1980, becoming a full-time member in 1986 earning a degree in Fire Management from Southern Illinois University.
He later taught fire-related classes as an instructor at Prairie State College. In 2013 he was named Park Forest’s Fire Marshall, a post he held until his retirement from the Park Forest Fire Department in 2017.

One of his greatest accomplishments was his dedication to the department which expressed itself in his ability to keep the Department outfitted with the best equipment. Through the years Ziegle was able to procure more than $1.5 million in grant money; funds that would have been paid for by the taxpayer or the Department would have gone without.

Since his retirement, Ziegle continued to live in Park Forest with his wife Julia in the home where they raised their children until they moved to Tennessee in October 2020.

• Prev
• Next