Builder, Realtor has left his mark on Wheaton

Several themes run through Ralph Smykal's family tree for four generations: real estate, community service and philanthropy, most recently in Wheaton.

Smykal's great-grandfather owned a lumber mill in Chicago right by the Chicago River. The timber would come in from Michigan; they would mill it there and ship it out. Then along came the Chicago Fire in 1871.

"As bright as they were, they failed to get fire insurance," Smykal said.

The mill was destroyed. In the aftermath of the fire, the Smykal family began building homes in Chicago's ethnic pockets.

"They were involved in the Czech community in the Pilsen area. (Their construction) was historically done on the West Side," he said.

The construction business was passed on from father to son to grandson to great-grandson. Ralph was born in Oak Park in 1928. When the Depression came, the family had houses in Oak Park for sale.

"The one solution to that problem is to move into one," he said, so the Smykal family lived there until the outbreak of World War II.

"My dad was federalized when they activated the Illinois National Guard," he said. "One of his jobs was to find a camp for training Illinois troops. The camp was in Tennessee. My mother said, 'What little time we have left, let's stay together.' We moved from Oak Park to Tennessee. We stayed there until the war was over."

During the war, Ralph's grandfather took over his father's part of the business. He built federal housing and the Great Lakes Training Center. Ralph attended high school in Tennessee, serving as junior and senior class president. He won a scholarship to the University of Illinois and graduated with a degree in industrial engineering.

"I had made up my mind to be in the building business," he said. "I could combine engineering with commerce and law."

While at a fraternity dance at the U of I, he met Betty Wright. He describes it as a look "across a crowded room" as in the old song. They were married Jan. 14, 1956.

"That's an important date because that was the lull in the construction business and I could get away," he said.

Smykal Realtors opened their first Wheaton office at 117 N. Main in 1946. Smykal's father, Richard, had been involved in the China-Burma-India Theater during the war. He was awarded the Legion of Merit and a Bronze Star and retired as a major general.

"My father was a very committed veteran," Smykal said. "Right after the war, he was going to sell only to veterans. The first homes were in Lowell Manor, close to Lowell School in Wheaton. They sold for $9,990."

Then the Smykals built Dorchester Terrace, the area between Roosevelt Road and the railroad tracks on Wheaton's west side.

"Everyone needed housing," he said. "They lined up four abreast around the block. When I feel down in the dumps, I pull out the file for Dorchester Terrace. We probably built over 100 homes there."

While many of these subdivision names are not familiar to Wheaton residents now, a look at one's deed will reveal the name of the original development: Pierce Highlands on the west side, Garden Apartments along Dorchester, the Coach Homes near the College Avenue Station, seven or eight homes in Fairway Estates, Briar Cliff Commons and the Woods of Cantigny.

Smykal Realtors have built more than 15,000 homes and apartments in the Chicago area.

When Ralph's father died at 56, Ralph took over the family business. He was 27.

"I was the one who introduced the individual real estate resale business," he said.

He organized First United Real Estate with offices in Wheaton, Naperville, Glen Ellyn and Downers Grove. Since Smykal Realtors are not involved in teardowns, they are no longer active in the Wheaton building market.

"Today, we're building in Joliet, Minooka and Chanahan," Ralph said.

One of Ralph's contributions to the growth of DuPage County was his involvement in the startup of Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield.

"When my dad had a heart attack, it took almost an hour and a half to get him to Elmhurst where the doctor was," he said. "I realized that the community needed a hospital."

Both Ralph and Betty Smykal serve on the Board of Governors of Central DuPage Hospital. Ralph also was chairman of the board of the DuPage Airport Authority.

"I had just completed an airport community, Naper Aero Estates, so I had a pretty good understanding that an airplane was not a toy to play with," he said.

"I could support (the airport development) because I knew that there were a lot of corporate planes coming in and out of that airport. The idea was to buy the land.

"Having built Cress Creek, a golf community (in Naperville), I thought that a golf course would be a good fit for the land," he added. "We got Robert Trent Jones to design the course for Prairie Landing. We bought the land at 20 percent of what it would cost to buy today. It was designed to be self-supporting, and it is. It brings in quality industry and research."

Betty and Ralph Smykal recently donated $500,000 to buy a permanent office suite for the DuPage Community Foundation headquarters. The foundation receives contributions for its permanent endowment fund supporting special programs to enhance the quality of life in DuPage County.

"I wanted to make a donation toward something that has made me successful in DuPage County," Smykal said. "That's real estate. They need a permanent location."

The foundation's new offices, due to be occupied in February, are at the southeast corner of Main and Roosevelt in Wheaton.

"Betty and I were working on our wills and it came to 'How do you direct funds, permanently, while you are alive?' The DuPage Community Foundation seems to be the way to go. You can put enough caveats in it to give (your donation) good direction."

Now close to 80, Ralph goes into the office almost every day.

"I'm working toward a slowdown," he said.

When he does slow down, the Smykals divide their time between Wheaton, a cottage in Michigan and their working farm in Tennessee, where they operate a cattle farm, a nursery and a peach orchard.

Ralph Smykal knows his real estate.