Two recognized with the Mueller Lombard Heritage Award
Patricia Poskocil and Michael Loos, with his extended family, recently received the William J. Mueller Lombard Heritage Award presented by Village President Keith Giagnorio and Lombard Historic Preservation Commission President Rita Schneider.
Poskocil, who received the Lifetime Achievement award, has been part of historic preservation work in Lombard since the celebration of the village centennial in 1969.
She is a founding member of the Lombard Historical Society and helped restore the Victorian Cottage Museum at 23 W. Maple St. She has spent hundreds of hours as a docent giving tours and hosting visitors at both Lombard museums.
With her husband Frank, Poskocil spent several years collecting oral histories of longtime Lombard residents and descendants of early settlers. Her talents in art, education and project management all came together in 1996 with the project to restore the Sheldon Peck Homestead, 355 E. Parkside.
The oldest home in Lombard, the homestead is one of only four National Park Service Network to Freedom sites in Illinois. The Network to Freedom is a national list of verified Underground Railroad stops.
"For over 40 years, Pat Poskocil has been so much more than simply a volunteer protecting Lombard's history," said former Lombard Historical Society President Leslie Sulla, who nominated Poskocil.
"She brings creativity to the table, connects like-minded people and leads projects. Pat has been vital in the preservation and promotion of Sheldon Peck history and Lombard wouldn't be the same without her."
Poskocil continues to support the Sheldon Peck homestead with ongoing work to recognize the Homestead on the National Register of Historic Places.
Loos and his extended family received the award for their book, "Growing Up Rudman." A self-published family history, "Growing Up Rudman" also was selected to receive a 2017 Heritage Award for Education and Advocacy.
The 8-inch-by-11-inch hard-bound book is a project that captures the family history and stories of longtime Lombard residents Percy and Mary Ellen Rudman.
The Rudmans and their seven children lived in a small bungalow on South Martha Street for more than 60 years. Six of the seven surviving children contributed family stories dating back to the Civil War. Family members from all over the country contributed stories and memories of their family and the house in Lombard that served as the family touchstone.
The project took nearly five years to complete and resulted in 386 pages with more than 500 black-and-white photographs. The book also includes a 40-page genealogy dating back to the 1700s.
The project was submitted and selected in the hopes that it will inspire other families to preserve their own history. A copy of the book is available at the Helen Plum Memorial Library.
The William J. Mueller Heritage Award was created by the Lombard Historic Preservation Commission in 2011 to recognize the varied and significant efforts that have contributed to historic preservation in the community.
The volunteer commission is charged with helping the village recognize and preserve historic sites and structures within Lombard.
For information, visit villageoflombard.org, look under the government tab, then go to Boards, Committees and Commissions.