Supporters: Hastert never forgot roots

Don Peterson wore a red button featuring the slogan "The Coach Is My Speaker."

The longtime Yorkville resident's oldest child attended Yorkville High School when the former U.S. House Speaker taught history there and all five of his children, plus a granddaughter, took physical education classes taught by Dennis Hastert's wife, Jean.

"Oh, he's a hometown boy," Peterson said of U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert, who announced Friday on the steps of Yorkville's old Kendall County Courthouse that he won't seek re-election. "He's down home, always has been. I mean, he remembers your name, he talks to you, he goes out of the way to be friendly."

Peterson, whose wife organized Hastert's retirement party when he left teaching and coaching for politics, pointed to the everyday folks shaking Hastert's hand and posing for pictures with him on the courthouse lawn.

"He sent most of these people personal invitations to be here today," Peterson said of the former wrestling coach.

No matter Hastert's official legacy, the Plano Republican representing the 14th Congressional District will be remembered by those who've known him the longest as a man of the people, a humble public servant who didn't forget his roots -- even when he was third in line to the presidency.

That's been the key to his success and staying power as the longest serving Republican speaker in history, many supporters say.

"He never lost that feel for the people," said Kane County Board member Bill Wyatt, an Aurora Republican.

Norma Wolfe's late husband, Charles, cut Hastert's hair at the start of his political career. She also served, years ago, on a Hastert-backed grassroots organization that stopped the demolition of the 19th century building where so many Hastert supporters gathered Friday morning.

"It was because of him that we were able to save (the old courthouse)," Wolfe said.

Yorkville resident Phyllis Oldenburg, a lead volunteer in Hastert's campaign for the state legislature and his early congressional runs in the 1980s, called Hastert "an honest man."

"He believes in what he does and has never changed," Oldenburg said.