JOAN BOGAR CRABB

Her cat may get nine lives, but Joan Bogar Crabb has lived two of her own in Park Forest. From the late 1950s to the early 1980s Joan was a homemaker and mother of four. She moved on to new jobs and to care for aging parents. Her second life in Park Forest was to return in 2006 to community involvement and to live in one of our original townhomes.

Joan was instrumental in the formation of the Park Forest Art Center, which continues today as the Tall Grass Art Center offering an art gallery, instruction, and an annual art fair.
She served as a writer for the Park Forest Reporter and Star Publications, then Copley News Service. Joan serves as newsletter editor for the Thorn Creek Audubon Society, which provides a yearly series on birds and environmental issues, environmental education for school children, a Hummingbird Festival, and Wetlands bluebird houses.

Joan resides proudly in Park Forest Cooperatives. These uniquely historical residences offer green space, access to public transportation, and a sense of community in which one can “think globally and act locally.” Joan embodies the tradition of Park Foresters working to make the world a better place.

 

MAUREEN CRIBBS

Two words closely associated with Maureen Cribbs and her contributions to Park Forest are “artist” and “teacher.” Having arrived in Park Forest in 1956 with husband Jim and daughters, Cindy and Valerie, Maureen taught for a year at Raygor Day School, and one year as a Kindergarten teacher at Talala School. From 1963 to 1978 she taught at Blackhawk Junior High, then a year in the ALPS program at Rich East. She has taught at Chicago and Governors State Universities, and at Robert Morris College. 

Maureen has had a continuing connection with Tall Grass Arts Association almost since its inception. She served two years as volunteer director of the school, has had two single-person gallery exhibits, has done demonstrations in art-making, and is presently a board member, serving on Art Fair committees. She is a Presenter for the Art Insights program of the Art Institute, and a docent for Nathan Manilow Sculpture Park. Early on she served on Park Forest Orchestra's board and painted sets for Children's Community Theater.

She is an active member of Grace United Protestant Church, having served as Chair of the Administrative Board for ten years. For more than 20 years she has served as a SPRED mentor.

 

JUDY DOLAN MENDELSON

For many years, Judy Dolan Mendelson has performed the Herculean task of overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Thorn Creek Nature Center. She serves as a liaison between Thorn Creek Management Commission and nature center staff, training naturalists, coordinating volunteers, developing programs, designing displays, pamphlets, and more. After years with the Forest Preserve of Will County, she is secretary of Friends of Thorn Creek Woods and edits the quarterly newsletter. Judy was an early strong voice in the local organic
movement. She introduced organic produce at Park Forest Farmers Market and worked with the Food Co-op to make it more readily available.

With her husband Jon, she has been caretaker of the 1900s Hornicek farm within Thorn Creek Woods, Illinois’ second certified organic farm. Every year, the 1200 garlic bulbs grown on the farm are the centerpiece of the popular Garlic Fest, drawing hundreds of visitors and bringing much-needed funds to the center’s operations budget. What Judy does every year on the farm she also does on a larger scale for her community, for Thorn Creek, and for the Nature Center. She takes limited resources, nurtures them, brings them to fruition, and shares them with the world. 

 

JON MENDELSON

The late Jon Mendelson was a local teacher, field ecologist, land preservationist, and writer. Though a scholarly and somewhat private person, Jon touched the lives of many people through his classes, nature center programs, writings, scientific papers, as well as presentations at the Open Space Congress, Thorn Creek Ecosystem Partnership, and community meetings. Jon’s ecology courses at GSU inspired generations of students. His nature essays graced the pages of Thorn Creek News. Jon’s words were lyrical, often provocative,  sometimes whimsical, but always made one want to know more about nature.

A dedicated champion of open space, and a force of nature in his own right, he worked tirelessly to acquire land for Thorn Creek Woods and to study and protect local watersheds. He provided leadership and vision as chair of the Management Commission, president of Friends of Thorn Creek Woods, and board member for the Land Conservancy of Will  County.

He was himself part of the flora and fauna of Thorn Creek. For thirty years he was caretaker for the historic farm nestled in the woods. At October’s Garlic Fest, Jon once again showed visitors the finer points of growing organic garlic as he so often did, teaching, guiding, and inspiring through words and example.

BRUCE L. NEEL

In more than three decades in Park Forest, Bruce Neel was always able to take time away from his job as an accountant for Swift meat-packing, and later for a Chicago accounting firm, to serve the people of Park Forest. As a young father, he coached, managed, and sometimes umpired Boys Baseball for seven years. More recently he organized a group of Park Foresters for the sad but necessary task of sewing shrouds for children in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

Bruce volunteers at Respond Now, working on behalf of impoverished and homeless people, as a finance officer and by soliciting food, clothing, and money. Bruce is dedicated in his work with Grace United Protestant Church, where he has served on the Finance Committee for several years, has taught Sunday School, and has served as treasurer for fourteen years. There, inspired by his wife’s work with this program at St. Lawrence O’Toole Church, he started the SPRED program, which provides a worship service, and gives spiritual and social nurture to special-needs residents of the Ludeman Development Center. Over more than 20 years he has befriended and mentored a series of Ludeman residents including his current friend whom he brings weekly to church.

 

DR. MAGNE B. OLSON

Dr. Magne B. Olson, Professor of History at Chicago State University, moved to Park Forest with his wife Judy in 1968. He became a member and committee chairman of the Area A Coop Board, and as father to Kristofer and Rachel, coached Girls Softball, and volunteered in Indian Princesses and Indian Guides.

Magne was a member of the Bicentennial Commission, 1974-77, working on Freedom Hall and Bicentennial events, helping to bring William Whyte back for a “20 Years After” speech. He served as an advisor to the "OH! Park Forest" oral history project. He joined the Park Forest Historical Society in 1985. Elected as the third president, during his tenure from 1987 to 2001, memberships and programming grew; the Hall of Fame began and inductions became annual; the "Prologue" newsletter started, and cable TV programs and interviews were produced. In 1998, his weekly column, "Forty Years Ago" appeared in the Park Forest Star. 

Magne served as an advisor to the South Suburban Heritage Association from 1989 to 1994, was eight years on the Park Forest Public Library Board, and five years on the Board of the Suburban Library System.

Even after moving out of the area, Magne returned for a number of years to serve as a weekly volunteer with the Historical Society's archival collection.

Dr. Olson passed away in November 2021.

 

JOHN PERRY

John Perry, the author of Blueprint for Building Community, served as Village Manager from 1982-1989 and Assistant Village Manager from 1972-1982. He saved the Aqua Center and Racquet Club, kept Marshall Fields an additional decade, and led the formation of IRMA, the first self-insurance pool.

John helped shape an affirmative action strategy for fair housing in the South Suburbs, including targeted marketing and community legal action. His team defeated a lawsuit by the National Association of Realtors, setting a nationwide standard for affirmative fair housing. 

In 1987, Marshall Fields announced it would leave the new development of the shopping center before the end of its lease, A Village-led, month-long initiative of petitions, PR, and demonstrations at the State Street store resulted in Fields agreeing to remain under a revised lease as anchor of the redevelopment in Park Forest for another decade. 

When the Chicago YMCA announced plans in 1983 to close the Aqua Center, John convinced the village trustees to purchase the facility, then led a volunteer cleanup crew to prepare it for opening day. Less than a year later, when financing for the Racquet Club was withdrawn, John again negotiated a Village purchase. Both of these facilities continue in operation today.

FRIENDS OF THORN CREEK WOODS

Formed in 1969 as Thorn Creek Preservation Association, Friends of Thorn Creek Woods is a citizens' activist group responsible for preserving the 985 acres of pre-settlement
woodland landscape, Thorn Creek Woods. They helped secure its dedication as an Illinois Nature Preserve on June 4, 1978, and to form the unique inter-governmental Management Commission to oversee the preserve as one, single preserve, owned by several entities. 

Against all obstacles, and there were many, Friends' efforts ensured permanent protection for this land--a unique open space that enhances Park Forest and the entire region.

The preservation of Thorn Creek Woods is a history of people. Through the years, over 1,500 people organized and fought to preserve the woods. They staff the nature center, develop exhibits, lead programs, build trails, monitor species, and raise funds for programs and improvements. 

Thousands of visitors experience wildness in these woods--the centerpiece of an expanding network of open space in the south suburbs. Young and old, groups and individuals, schools and families, walk the trails, enjoy nature programs and explore the Nature Center. The Preserve profoundly influences the way volunteers, children, and adults think about nature. Friends of Thorn Creek Woods make all this possible.

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