Prospect Hts. parks leader remembered for love of family, community

Patrick W. Ludvigsen had two passions — his family and Prospect Heights. And he served them both well, his son, city Alderman Patrick J. Ludvigsen, said Tuesday.

Ludvigsen, 66, died Monday after a long illness. Visitation will take place from 3 to 9 p.m. Thursday at Oehler Funeral Home, 2099 Miner St., Des Plaines. Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Friday at St. Alphonsus Liguori Church, 411 N. Wheeling Road, Prospect Heights, after an hourlong gathering.

“Everything revolved around his family and taking care of us,” his son said. “His hobby was his family. Although he did love golf, too.”

The elder Ludvigsen showed his affection for the city where his parents settled in 1951 by raising his own family there, making an unsuccessful run for the city’s first governing body in the mid 1970s and serving six years on the Prospect Heights park board.

It probably was golf and his familiarity with the district’s course, Old Orchard Country Club, that drew his father to the park board after selling his heating, ventilation and air conditioning company, his son said.

“He loved the fact that I was involved with the city,” said the alderman, who also served a stint as mayor. “He liked making Prospect Heights better, and that’s what got me involved.”

Kathy Nowicki, executive director of the park district, praised the senior Ludvigsen, who was in the middle of his second term as a commissioner. “He will be very missed by the district and just in general as a very kind person,” she said.

Mayor Nick Helmer called him “a delightful guy.”

“He was a man that everyone liked, and he did a great job on all the things he took on,” Helmer said.

Besides his son, Ludvigsen is survived by his wife, Paulette Marchese Ludvigsen, his daughter, Jennifer Jackson, and five grandchildren. The family requests memorials go to the Mercy Home for Girls and Boys, mercyhome.org.