Watershed expert left indelible mark on Northwest suburbs

The sprawling soccer and baseball fields at the Tom T. Hamilton Reservoir in Palatine are among the busiest in the village, drawing thousands of youngsters each spring and summer.

"As far as athletics go, it's our busiest park that the Palatine Park District programs and maintains," says Keith Williams, recreation superintendent.

Yet few if any patrons know the background of the man for whom the reservoir is named.

Mr. Hamilton, a former 20-year resident of Elk Grove Village, passed away July 15 in Warsaw, IN. He was 80.

"His vision and outspoken advocacy about drainage and flooding problems were important to the development of the Northwest suburbs," says Richard Lanyon, executive director of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

Lanyon recounts how in the early 1970s, flooding issues came to a head just as many of the Northwest suburbs were dealing with exploding growth.

"Tom convened and ran the Salt Creek Steering Committee that resulted in the construction of six reservoirs in the floodwater retention area of Cook County," Lanyon says, "including one that was named for him.

"At the time, we were conducting watershed studies throughout the region," Lanyon adds, "but he was the catalyst. He brought the folks together."

The largest project that came out of their steering committee meetings was the Busse Woods reservoir project. When it was completed in 1982, it protected more than 3,600 homes and 250 businesses from flooding.

It also transformed the Ned Brown Preserves, part of the Cook County Forest Preserve District, into a regional recreation site.

The project resulted in Busse Lake and offered 20 miles of shoreline, with boat docks and launching ramps. It also added bicycle and hiking trails past the scenic lake, as well as picnic shelters, comfort station and even an elk pasture at the southeast corner.

"Because of all the flooding that was happening in Elk Grove, and with his experience, he decided something needed to be done," says his son, George, of Woodstock. "He stepped up to get involved."

Mr. Hamilton was an Oklahoma native, whose mother was a full Potawatomi Indian. Throughout his life, he remained connected to his Native American heritage, and at the time of his passing was an active member on the Potawatomi rolls.

He grew up on a farm and majored in agriculture and journalism in college. One of his first jobs was assistant director of the Oklahoma Soil Conservation Board, assisting with state and citizen groups in implementing flood control projects. He later joined International Harvester to edit their tractor magazine, bringing him to Chicago.

After spearheading the Salt Creek Watershed committee, Mr. Hamilton was named "National Watershed Man of the Year" in 1976, and three years later, the former Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago named a flood retention reservoir in Palatine, after him, the Tom T. Hamilton Reservoir.

Besides his son, Mr. Hamilton is survived by his wife, Pat, daughter Teresa, and sons Alan and Joseph.

As a Native American, Mr. Hamilton's ashes will be interred on Oct. 9 on the Indian Burial Ground at Tecumseh, OK.