DuPage remembers longtime environmentalist Paul Mooring

One of the driving forces behind the Illinois Prairie Path, F. Paul Mooring of Glen Ellyn, is being remembered this week as a physicist and lifelong environmentalist.

Mooring and his wife, Jean, were charter members of the Prairie Path nonprofit corporation, and he spent 21 years as the board's president. The couple dedicated countless hours to building and maintaining the 61-mile path that serves portions of Cook, DuPage and Kane counties.

Mooring also was active in the DuPage Conservation Commission, the Conservation Foundation and served as president and treasurer of the Illinois Audubon Society.

In 2007, the Daily Herald celebrated the couple as among the 10 most influential environmentalists in DuPage County history.

Paul Mooring was 95 when he died on Nov. 18. Jean died in February 2013; the couple had been married for 64 years.

They both played key roles in transforming an abandoned railroad right of way into what would become the Illinois Prairie Path, a trail for hiking, biking and horseback riding. During his time as president of the group, the Moorings often jokingly referred to themselves as the trail's "First Family."

Mooring had a Ph.D. in physics and worked at Argonne National Laboratory from 1951 to 1983. After his retirement he served as editor for "American Institute of Physics" and "Applied Physics Review" - work he continued until he was 92.

Both Moorings became active in environmental matters in the early 1960s when author and teacher May Theilgaard Watts spoke to Jean's garden club about an idea for improving the recently abandoned Chicago, Aurora and Elgin Railroad.

Watts' numerous talks and her 1963 letter to the Chicago Tribune led to the creation of the Illinois Prairie Path nonprofit corporation in 1965, with both Moorings among its first members.

They continued to maintain a ¾-mile portion of the path for years near their home between Hill Avenue and the east branch of the DuPage River.

Paul made many signs for the path in his backyard and he and Jean helped build several bridges along the trail.

In lieu of flowers, the family is asking that donations in his name be made to the Illinois Prairie Path, the Nature Conservancy or the University of Wisconsin.