He helped shape the Fox Valley
Frank H. Gorham worked on any number of major development projects in the Fox Valley area over the past 40 years, but his last one may be the most dramatic.
Mr. Gorham and his engineering firm, Robert H. Anderson & Associates in St. Charles, served as the prime consultant and project manager for the Red Gate Road project for the city of St. Charles.
"He worked with everything from the preliminary engineering and funding requests, to developing the overall big picture concept," says Doug Breunlin, a senior vice president with Robert H. Anderson & Associates.
Consequently, Mr. Gorham had been involved since the beginning of the proposed $30 million project to extend Red Gate Road over the Fox River, between Route 31 and Route 25.
The project continues to be in the development stages, but it will have to go forward without Mr. Gorham's help. The 32-year St. Charles resident and former Geneva resident died Saturday at the age of 65.
Mr. Gorham grew up on a farm, the oldest of seven children in Seneca, Ill. He left the area to pursue civil engineering, first at Stanford University, before graduating from the University of Illinois.
Prior to joining Anderson & Associates in 1978, he had worked for other west suburban engineering firms as well as serving as public works director for St. Charles.
However, he spent the last 30 years, or the bulk of his professional career, with Anderson, serving as its president and CEO at the time of his death.
The company offers engineering support to local municipalities, in everything from storm water management and flood plain analysis, to water pumping facilities, sewage collection and traffic and structural engineering.
"Frank was a well respected member of the engineering community, but he also had the respect of a lot of public leaders," Breunlin said. "They looked to him and respected his opinion and expertise."
Mr. Gorham's handprint can be seen across the Fox Valley, including in the Butterfield Development in Aurora, which is both a residential and commercial project that he consulted on for most of the last 30 years, colleagues said.
"Frank was involved from the planning stages, through preliminary and final engineering stages," adds P.J. Fitzpatrick, a senior vice president at Anderson.
He lived and worked in the Fox Valley area, living for 10 years in Geneva before moving to St. Charles with his wife and three children in 1976.
"Having grown up on a farm, my father appreciated the abundant nature and rural qualities of the Fox Valley," said his daughter, Melissa O'Brien of Royal Oak, Mich. "Even though it went through considerable development, he played a hand in much of it, and he had the highest of standards."
Mr. Gorham also worked to develop wastewater treatment plants for the communities of St. Charles, East Dundee and Batavia, among others.
Besides his daughter, Mr. Gorham is survived by his wife, Anne, of 42 years, as well as his children, Jane (Joshua) Ditelberg of River Forest and Mark (Melissa) Gorham of St. Charles. He is also survived by eight grandchildren.
A funeral Mass will take place at 11 a.m. today at St. Patrick's Church, 6N491 Crane Road, in St. Charles.