Paddocks still tied to Palatine school that became their namesake in 1955
Students at Stuart R. Paddock Elementary School in Palatine recently got the unusual opportunity to hear from someone whose name is on their building.
Paddock's grandson Stuart Paddock III - whose family has owned Paddock Publications, parent company of Daily Herald Media Group for generations - was the special guest at the school's Family Reading Night last week where he told students about his family's roots in Palatine dating back to the 1800s.
"I was honored to be asked and I wanted to honor the family and legacy of Stuart Paddock Sr.," Paddock said.
The children who attended Paddock's presentation with their parents ranged in age from kindergartners to fourth-graders.
Given the new technology these kids are growing up with, Paddock feigned surprise that the kids know what newspapers are.
"You do?! I'm so excited!" he exclaimed. "That's what my family has done since 1872."
In 1872, G.E. Earlie established the Cook County Herald in Palatine, which Hosea Paddock bought in 1898.
One family at Thursday's presentation lives on Wood Street in Palatine, and the kids recognized a photo of the same house Hosea moved his family to when horses and buggies were the mode of transportation.
In the 1920s, Stuart Sr. and his brother, Charles, took over the Cook County Herald from their father. They started an Arlington Heights edition of the Cook County Herald, which they named the Arlington Heights Herald, Paddock explained.
Paddock School, which cost $730,000 to build, was dedicated in Stuart Sr.'s name in 1955 when he was about 70. His grandson said District 15 was looking to name a school after someone who had contributed a lot to the community over the years, and so they approached his grandfather.
Though photos of the original classrooms are almost unrecognizably old-fashioned in their furnishings, today's Paddock School students were instantly familiar with the wide-open space of the gym.
"I wanted to give the kids a little bit of history of the area and show them what life used to be like before cellphones and cars," Paddock said.
The students saw photos of Stuart Sr. from the March 6, 1955 dedication as well as when he was their age - in about 1900.
"The pictures you see of (Stuart Sr.) are from when he was older, but I wanted to show them pictures from when he was younger and he was their age," Paddock said.
"Grandparents may have wrinkles, but they didn't always have them. They were once their age and they were kids just like them."
Paddock III begins showing up in some of the more recent family photos. Of his long hair in the still black and white photos, Paddock explained he was a bit of a hippie who wanted to be a rock star.
But when he explained that he's now in charge of the computers at the Daily Herald, the kids thought that was cool too. Paddock is the Daily Herald Media Group's senior vice president/director of digital and information technologies.
He told them how the family publication continued to grow and expand until it became a daily newspaper in the 1970s. The paper has been passed down through several generations over the past century.
"It's important for children to develop a strong connection with their school, their home and their community, so it's very exciting for our students to learn about the history of our school and community from an important member," said parent Erica Ariagno, who organized the PTA-sponsored Family Reading Night.
"Given that this is Family Reading Night and the Paddocks' role in the newspaper industry, I think it's a very nice tie-in," she said. "We go to school and its named (Paddock), but I don't know how many of them have really ever thought about that."