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Orland Park Treasurer Retires
After 65 Years Of Service

By MARJORIE M. OWENS, Public Information Coordinator, Village of Orland Park

On September 22,1959, Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley sounded Chicago's civil defense sirens when the Chicago White Sox defeated the Cleveland Indians, winning the American League Championship. On August 1, 1994, sirens blared in the Chicago southwest suburb of Orland Park (population 40,300) in response to a reported funnel cloud nearby. The timing was right however, as the Village of Orland Park Board of Trustees had just recognized Franklin E. Loebe's (pronounced Laybee) 65 years as Village Treasurer.

Despite the evening's heavy downpours and overcast skies, family, friends, colleagues and officials filled the Board Room of the Frederick T. Owens Village Hall to wish Loebe well.

Orland Park Mayor Daniel McLaughlin presented an ornate proclamation and a key to the village from the Village Board before reading letters from well wishers, offering their congratulations. President Bill Clinton penned his regards, as did U.S. Senator Paul Simon, U.S. Congressman Harris Fawell and Illinois Governor Jim Edgar. U.S. Congressman William Lipinski sent a copy of Loebe's service being forever remembered in the U.S. Congressional Record. Both Fawell and Lipinski made arrangements for American flags to be flown over the U.S. Capitol on August 1st, in Loebe's honor, before being sent to Orland Park.

Loebe

Illinois State Senators Bill Mahar (R-19) and Pat O'Malley (R-18) co-sponsored a resolution in the State Senate recognizing Loebe's tenure. State Representative Larry Wennlund (R-38) presented a resolution that he sponsored in the Illinois House, making a point to thank Loebe's wife Dorothea as well.

Illinois Emergency Management Agency John Mitchell, a resident of Orland Park, spoke of what an honor it was to be served by Loebe. Orland Park Police Sergeant Charles Cassata presented a gift from the Police Pension Board, on which he and Loebe served.

Since first appointed in July, 1929, Loebe has served under six mayors, two acting mayors and countless trustees. Faces from Orland Park's past smiled in the audience as Orland Park bid a fond farewell to one of its own. Among the well wishes was Retired Mayor Melvin Doogan, who as mayor of Orland Park for twenty years and as a trustee for fourteen, served with Loebe the longest.

The name Loebe will long be remembered as playing an important role in the 102 year history of the Village of Orland Park. One of the town's first stores, Loebe Brothers General Store, opened its doors on January 2,1898, six years after the village was incorporated as a municipality.

The second generation of Loebes has made history once again as it appears that Franklin Loebe is the longest serving official in the State of Illinois, and possibly the nation.

The original Loebe Brothers, Franklin's father John and his Uncle Albert, operated the General Store for 53 years. Franklin and his brother, Stewart, took it over in 1951.

Franklin Loebe was born on April 18,1906, the same day as the San Francisco Earthquake. "I was born upstairs, in an apartment over the store," he said. The

September 1994 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 9


original building, located at 14314 South Union Avenue, still graces the Old Orland Historical District, being home to General Store Antiques.

Young Franklin walked a block to the grammar school on Beacon Avenue. "It was a two room school house with a cement porch," he recalled, adding that class pictures were taken on the porch. "There was a big room and a little room," he said, noting that this building too still stands. For high school, Loebe took a daily train to Englewood High, located at 61st and Stewart on Chicago's south side.

In 1924, Loebe enrolled at Northwestern University to study business and accounting. He played in the university band during the falls of '24 and '25. As Franklin helped provide the music in 1925, Notre Dame's Four Horsemen were on the field, coached by Knute Rockne. Loebe saw history in the making as this was one of the first games ever played at Chicago's Soldier Field. He returned home before finishing his degree to help with the family store because his father took ill.

Although Loebe wasn't officially a member of the Orland Park Volunteer Fire Department until 1929, he began pulling the department's hose cart in 1926. A lot of the volunteers weren't in town during the day, instead "working as car knockers down on Western Avenue, repairing freight cars," Loebe explained.

In the late 1920s, the fire bell was located in the Village Hall/Fire Station on Beacon Avenue. "There was an upstairs meeting room which had an old hot blast stove and the fire department was downstairs," Loebe said.

When the fire bell rang, Loebe and Fire Chief Jack Hellenhouse, the local barber, would hop into Loebe's pick up truck and race to the fire house. "Everybody who was in town would go to help out," Franklin recalled. The men would sit on the open tailgate of Loebe's pickup, pulling the hose cart behind them. While Franklin never "lost" a passenger, he did take a few turns too fast one time. "They got off with their fists up," he remembered, describing one frantic drive to a fire.

Firefighters weren't paid when Loebe served, although they did get "a dollar per call to have their trousers cleaned."

In 1929, Franklin was working in the family store when Mayor Ralph Jennings came in to ask if he'd serve as treasurer. Loebe's academic background and experience with the family business gave him the skills necessary. And, his owning one of the few adding machines in town was an added plus. Franklin hesitated at first, not wanting to take the position from Treasurer Archibald Kay, the depot agent for the Wabash Railroad. In 1929, the depot was across the street from the General Store. Franklin took the job once he knew Kay was no longer interested.

At that time, Orland Park's population peaked at 460 and the village's receipts totalled $6,000. Franklin was paid 2% of disbursements, or around $100 per year. The village clerk earned $75 per year and each trustee was paid $50. Loebe's salary was considered "big money" back then as men working on the railroad earned $30 a month, installing and maintaining the tracks.

Loebe was responsible for keeping the ledgers and preparing the Annual Reports. He'd do the village's books on Sundays, while working at the store. "There wasn't much to do then. The village only had two funds, the General Fund and the Water Fund. Receipts were on one page, with expenses on the other," he recalled. The village's Finance Committee, comprised of three board members, would meet at the store every six months to audit the books. They met at Loebe's in order to use the hand cranked Victor Adding Machine, verifying what the village clerk had collected with what Franklin had deposited in the bank.

On August 5, 1942, Franklin married Dorothea Wolske, whom he met at the Chicago savings and loan where he banked. Dorothea and Franklin had two daughters, Nancy Ruth Loebe Hessler and Priscilla Ann Loebe. Dorothea and Franklin still live in the Union Avenue family home that Franklin's father built in 1942.

In 1961, Franklin sold his half of the store to his brother, going into public accounting. He moved the village's ledgers to his house and returned to school to complete his accounting degree, without which he doubts he could have kept up with the village's rapid growth. For the next eight years, Loebe's home served as the Treasurer's Office. Forty years after accepting the position, Franklin was given an office in the Beacon Avenue Village Hall.

Shortly after the award winning Orland Park Village Center Complex opened in late 1989, the Village Board voted to name the Recreation Center in Loebe's honor. "They passed it on a Monday night and Mayor Owens couldn't wait to come in the next day to tell me," Loebe said. His office in the Village Hall overlooked the building named for him. "I think they gave me that office so I could look out and keep an eye on things," he added, chuckling.

As Loebe retires, the population of the Village of Orland Park has passed 40,300 and the annual budget exceeds 40 million dollars.

When school groups would tour the new Village Hall, students were always excited to meet the man for whom the Recreation Center was named. Young Orland Park residents looked at Loebe in awe upon hearing how long he had worked for the village.

Looking back on his 65 year tenure, Loebe cited the construction of Orland Square Shopping Mall, the village being served by Lake Michigan Water and the Recreation Center named in his honor as career highlights. However, it took a child to put his accomplishments into perspective. He recalled, "During one tour, when a little girl laid down a piece of paper and asked for my autograph, I knew I had arrived." •

Page 10 / Illinois Municipal Review / September 1994


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