Hartstein, Oakton Community College pioneer, dies

Ray Hartstein, founding chairman of the Oakton Community College board and a member for 35 years, died peacefully Sunday at his Vernon Hills home at 96.

Hartstein, for whom Oakton's eastern campus was named, was surrounded by family, said his son, former Buffalo Grove Village President Elliott Hartstein.

Ray Hartstein, a longtime resident of Skokie, recently moved to a senior living facility in Vernon Hills with Rhea, his wife of 51 years.

He was a former president of the Rotary Club of Skokie Valley, as well as a past president and board member of Orchard Village, which provides services to those with developmental disabilities. Over the years, Hartstein carved out a successful career in the field of industrial relations, beginning with General Motors in the 1940s.

In 1957, he moved to Israel, where he served with the American Embassy, working as a management adviser to set up training programs at Hebrew University and Technion.

His son said he worked with such figures as David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan. Elliott even remembers barbecues at Dayan's house.

In 1960, he returned to the United States, working for many years as director of personnel and industrial relations for Brunswick Corp.

But he found perhaps his greatest passion was his love for community colleges, especially the one he helped put on the map.

"He put his blood, sweat and tears into making that a college that everybody can be proud of and that will serve the needs of the community," Elliott Hartstein said.

OCC President Margaret Lee called Hartstein "the father of Oakton," saying, "If it hadn't been for Ray, I'm not sure that the college would have happened or would have happened the way it happened."

Lee said Oakton was founded at a time when community colleges were growing in the U.S., at a rate, she said, of about one per week.

After it was founded in 1969, classes were initially held in four factory buildings at Nagle Avenue and Oakton Street in Morton Grove. The Des Plaines campus opened in 1980. In 1995, classes began at the Ray Hartstein Campus on the former site of Niles East High School.

"He was indefatigable," Lee said. "He had the most incredible energy. He didn't want to slow down, even at the end. He was always on the go. He read everything there was to read about community colleges especially and higher education in general. He had a passion for education."

Hartstein served as a mentor to other trustees, serving as president of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, which annually gives out the Ray Hartstein Outstanding Trustee Award. Ray Hartstein was the first recipient in 1992.

One of this year's recipients was Jody Wadhwa, the longest serving member of the Oakton Community College board and a man who gives Hartstein credit for mentoring him.

"He was not only a great human being, but a good mentor," he said.

Several scholarships bear Hartstein's name, including the Ray Hartstein-Brunswick Excellence Scholarship and the Ray Hartstein Academic Merit Scholarship.

Hartstein was born in the Pittsburgh area and received his master's degree in industrial relations from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before embarking on his career.

Elliott Hartstein said family was extremely important to his father.

"He was a serious man, but just a loving, caring man. One of the greatest things was his involvement with our family and his closeness to my mom and with his grandkids. We were so lucky that he got to see his great-grandkids."

Ray Hartstein is survived by Rhea and five of his six children.

Services are scheduled for 10 a.m. Tuesday at The Chapel, 195 N. Buffalo Grove Road, Buffalo Grove. Interment will be at Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge.

See his obituary in Monday Business for details.