Naperville's Preston was 'all in' for building community

Cliff Preston was a builder and a doer.

A veteran of a Navy construction battalion during World War II, there was no stopping him when he wanted to get something done - especially when it came to the Riverwalk in downtown Naperville.

One of his longtime passions, the Riverwalk will bear Preston's stamp for years to come in the benches he installed by hand, the light bulbs he checked to ensure none were burned out, the gathering space at Fredenhagen Park, the east extension to Hillside Road and the west extension to Jefferson Avenue that he helped create.

Preston, a Naperville resident since 1952, died Friday morning after an illness. He was 90.

His family and fellow volunteers remember Preston as a dedicated man focused on family, community and church, a carpenter who established his own business in 1968 and put meticulous care into everything he did.

"He just didn't go halfway with anything," said his son, Tom Preston of Naperville. "It was all in or nothing at all."

Born in Triumph, Illinois, Preston grew up in Mendota where he graduated from high school in 1944 before entering the Navy. As a member of the Seabees, as construction battalions were known, he was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.

Returning from war, he married Eleanor M. Preston on Nov. 21, 1948. Four years later he moved to Naperville and started getting involved in the community that became his home.

His son said he worked for three construction companies before starting Preston Builders. When his business was new, longtime friend Charlie Brown said Preston would go to Moser Lumber in downtown Naperville, short on cash but in dire need of wood.

"Take what you need," he was told. "Cliff, you're an honest guy - give me the money when you can pay it," Brown said, recounting a story Preston himself liked to tell.

"He said that was one of the reasons he kept giving back," said Stephanie Penick, a Riverwalk Foundation member. "It's a great story of how this community got going."

Preston helped establish the Naperville Jaycees and later was given the club's lifetime achievement award. He also joined the Camp Seager board and the local VFW and American Legion.

Everywhere he went, he was a builder, volunteering to construct cabins at the camp and a whole wall of glass cabinets to hold certificates and awards at Judd Kendall VFW Post 3873.

In 1987, Preston was appointed to the Riverwalk Commission to oversee the path built in 1981 for the city's bicentennial. He remained on the commission 17 years, many of them as its chairman.

He oversaw the path's western expansion through Sindt Woods to Jefferson Avenue. Although the city initially wanted the new segment of path built with asphalt, Preston ensured there was a way to easily replace the surface with the Riverwalk's signature brick pavers later on, said Rick Hitchcock, who served on the Riverwalk Commission with Preston.

He then navigated complex land ownership issues with patience to extend the path east and south from Washington Street to Hillside Road, convincing fellow Grace United Methodist Church member Rita Harvard to donate land that later became Fredenhagen Park.

In the spirit of the Riverwalk's early days, when residents worked together to lay the path, Preston often did construction work himself, impatient with the bureaucratic process.

"He picked his battles carefully and he picked the Riverwalk because he just felt so strongly about making it great," Hitchcock said.

When he wasn't building something for his business or his community, Preston was kicking back with his one hobby.

"His pastimes were fishing, fishing and fishing," his son said.

Preston is survived by his wife, his son and daughter Marcia Meier of Naperville, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Visitation is scheduled for 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday at Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, 44 S. Mill St., Naperville. Visitation continues 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. Monday at Grace United Methodist Church, 300 E. Gartner Road, Naperville, before a funeral service at 11 a.m. at the church. The funeral will be followed by a lunch from noon to 2 p.m., also at the church.

The family asks memorial donations be made to the Naperville Riverwalk Foundation, Grace United Methodist Church Foundation or Honor Flight courtesy of the Naperville American Legion Post 43.