Shnay: Honoring a Park Forest pioneer
By Jerry Shnay Citizen Journalist/jerryshnay@gmail.com August 2, 2012 12:28PM
Updated: September 6, 2012 6:06AM
Samuel Klutznick, the youngest son of Philip and Ethel Klutznick, died in Wyoming last month at the age of 63.
By now you know the history of Philip Klutznick who, along with Nathan Manilow and Carroll Sweet Jr., helped plan and develop a community carved out of farm land and a golf course that became Park Forest.
It was said that he wanted to be Park Forest’s first resident in August 1948 and hoped to move in with his growing family that already included four young children: Bettylu, Tom, Robert and James.
Sam, however, was born in early August of 1948. I am informed by our children’s mother (who gave birth to two and then went on with the rest of the harvest) that in those days childbirth was a much more time-consuming process. Thus the Klutznick residency was delayed. That is why Ross and Leona DeLue became Park Forest’s first residents, moving into a still-unfinished rental unit later that month.
The Klutznick family finally settled down in a large, custom-built house on Monee Road. Philip Klutznick moved on, building successful shopping malls, including Oakbrook Center in Oak Brook, River Oaks in Calumet City and Old Orchard in Skokie.
After he built Water Tower Place, he and Ethel moved into a comfortable condominium on the 72nd floor, saying he was just “living over the store.”
Ross and Leona lived in Park Forest for the next 52 years, and after Ross died in Florida, Leona moved back to the area, leaving us earlier this year. She was 97.
A copy of the first rental agreement signed by Ross DeLue is on display in the Park Forest House Museum, which is open from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and Saturday.
Getting it right
Although our shack on Shabbona is not in the East Lincolnwood section of Park Forest, if we were living in that area, we would have wanted more information about the shooting that took place a couple of weeks ago.
We would have wanted to know if there was a gunman on the loose in the neighborhood, whether it was a family argument that got out of hand, and even whether it was still safe to walk the streets.
Instead of shedding light on the event, we found out about the shooting in an e-news publication that covers Park Forest.
The story began with the headline of “Sunday, Bloody Sunday,” coupled by a photograph of what purports to be a dead man covered by a white sheet and a “raw video” that seemed to add nothing to an accompanying story that noted what happened, when it happened, and where it took place, but little else.
That story also was posted on a Facebook page. If I lived in the East Lincolnwood area, I might be frightened by reading the original story. If I lived anyplace else in the world and was linked into that Facebook page, I might be appalled.
Please don’t misread this. The author can write what he wants, when he wants. Perhaps what was needed was more information. That came later when a letter from village hall dated July 24, was delivered to all East Lincolnwood residents in an effort to calm their fears. It read that this was not an act of random violence and police knew the names of everyone involved. The next day a Steger man was arrested and charged with murder.
Since the author was one of the first to know about the shootings, perhaps he wanted to get the story out as quickly as possible. We live in an era in which fear is a marketable commodity.
If that was the case then “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” was a best seller.
