Lifelong Mount Prospect farmer missed at local markets

Dennis “Denny” Geils, 64, of Mount Prospect, a lifelong farmer who was born in Elgin in 1951, grew up on a farm in western Des Plaines and later farmed a 10-acre parcel in Northbrook, died Tuesday from complications of heart disease and diabetes, according to his nephew Peter Jeffrey.

As recently as the previous weekend, Geils and his helpers had been picking corn and other vegetables and hauling them to Wheaton's French Market on Saturday and Mount Prospect's Farmers Market on Sunday.

In fact, for the past 10 years, Geils was a member of the Wheaton market's “Flashlight Club” of vendors who start to set up the market around 5 a.m. before the sun comes up.

“Farming was all that my uncle wanted to do,” Jeffrey said, “and after his father died in 2008, I think that he felt an obligation to carry on the family tradition.” “He was well-known for the quality of his corn, tomatoes and other vegetables,” recalled Fred Steinmiller, chairman of the Mount Prospect Farmers Market which is run by the Mount Prospect Lions Club. “And when people would stop by and ask him if his corn was good, he would tell that they would have to try it to see. Years ago, I remember him even hauling his corn to the market on a farm wagon.”

“My family has been involved with the Mount Prospect Farmers Market since it started by the old village hall in the 1970s or 1980s,” Jeffrey recalled. “My grandfather did it first and then my uncle.”

The original farm of the late Lucille and Ervin Geils was located south of Algonquin Road between Wolf and Mount Prospect Roads. Jeffrey said that he has photos of the farm from the early 1960s that show Maine West High School being built in the background. The family maintained a farm stand along Mount Prospect Road for many years but eventually sold the property to make way for industrial development.

After that, Dennis Geils and his father farmed various parcels in Palatine, Prospect Heights and eventually Northbrook. They sold their produce at farmers markets around the area, including Oak Park, Evanston, Highland Park, Wheaton and Mount Prospect. In recent years, Geils confined his sales to Mount Prospect, Wheaton and Highland Park where he participated in the Wednesday morning Ravinia Market.

“We plan to hold a short memorial for Dennis at the Mount Prospect Farmers Market on Aug. 30,” Steinmiller said, “and we will leave his space open for the rest of the year in his memory. He will be very much missed.”

Visitation will be held from 10 a.m., Tuesday, Aug. 25 until services at noon at Friedrichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Road, Mount Prospect. For information, phone (847) 255-7800, or visit www.friedrichsfh.com.