Park Forest, IL—(ENEWSPF)— Many people know that Philip Klutznick is a former ambassador to the United Nations under President John F. Kennedy, and that he was Secretary of Commerce under President Jimmy Carter. Likewise, many folks are aware that Jim Edgar once was governor of the State of Illinois. What people likely don’t know, however, is that both men once were residents of what today is the Birch Street Townhomes Housing Cooperative in the Village of Park Forest.
To correct that historical omission, the cooperative will be recognizing both figures in a ceremony on June 27 at which plaques will be attached to the two townhomes that once were their residences.
According to John A. Ostenburg, president of the co-op’s Board of Directors, the Klutznick family once lived at 2651-53 Western Ave., and Jim and Brenda Edgar lived at 2731 Western Ave.
He explained that Klutznick, the developer who was the major figure in the creation of the south suburban community of Park Forest in 1947, moved his family into a building that subsequently has become a duplex with two residences. They lived at that site in Court B-1 until building a large home on Monee Road, in the furthest south section of the Village, which unfortunately was destroyed by fire only a few years ago. That was before the cooperative of 370 family residences, was formed in 1962.
From Phil Klutznik’s Autobiography
“Ethel and I were among the first people to rent homes built in Park Forest, and we were either the first or second family to spend a night in the place,” Klutznick wrote in his autobiography, Angles of Vision: A Memoir of My Lives. “In fact, Ethel and our newborn fourth son, Sam, came straight from the maternity hospital to that new home.”
Ostenburg said that a few years ago the cooperative honored Ross and Leona DeLue who were the actual first residents of Park Forest. “Ross explained that the Klutznick family was supposed to move in first, but were delayed because Mrs. Klutznick was delivering a baby,” he said. “The DeLues, who resided in the same court, beat the Klutznicks by one day, according to Ross.”
The Edgars were actual shareholders in what then was called the Area B Cooperative, Ostenburg said. They moved into the complex in July of 1969 and left in Fall of 1970. Edgar was working in Chicago as an intern for the State of Illinois at the time.
Gov. Jim Edgar shared his Park Forest history with then-mayor John Ostenburg
Ostenburg, who was mayor of Park Forest from 1999 to 2019 and who served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1993 to 1995, said it was the governor himself who first made him aware of the Edgars’ one-time residence in the co-op.
“He had invited a group of legislators to the Governor’s Mansion for dinner and during the course of our conversation he mentioned that he once had lived in Park Forest. When I asked where, he said it was in the townhomes but he couldn’t remember the exact location. From his description of the site, I felt it might be in my cooperative.” Ostenburg said he recently asked the co-op’s assistance manager, Luciana Jackson, to check the archives and see what she might be able to learn. “Sure enough, she found the membership certificate showing that Jim and Brenda Edgar once were shareholders and resided at 2731 Western.”
As a side note, Ostenburg said, Governor Edgar told him at that dinner that he and Brenda still had the washing machine they purchased from the Sears store in Park Forest.
The ceremony honoring the two late leaders in Illinois and national government will begin at 9 a.m. at the site of the former Klutznick residence and then move to the location of the former Edgar residence. The event is open to the public.
