Carol Stream man helped build bus, fire service in area

Richard Kammes had a knack for succeeding at everything he tried.

After starting off as a young farmer with his wife, Betty Lou, who he married in 1944, the Carol Stream man later launched two booming businesses and helped shape the growth of the Carol Stream Fire Protection District.

Mr. Kammes, 86, died Sunday at Central DuPage Hospital in Winfield after suffering from Alzheimer's disease for several years.

Prayers will be said 9 a.m. Friday at Williams-Kampp Funeral Home, 430 E. Roosevelt Road, Wheaton, proceeding to St. Luke Church in Carol Stream for a Mass at 10 a.m. Interment will be in St. Isidore Cemetery. Visitation will be from 2 to 9 p.m. Thursday at the funeral home.

Betty Lou Kammes described her husband as "a busy kid all the time."

After the couple had their four sons - Ron, Gary, Rick and David - Mr. Kammes worried in 1959 about how he would transport his eldest son from their Carol Stream farm to St. Francis High School in Wheaton. That's when Mr. Kammes decided to solve his own problem, as well as a dilemma for other families in then-rural DuPage County.

"Our priest at St. Isidore said, 'Why don't you just get a school bus and drive him there?'" Betty Lou Kammes said. "We knew people in West Chicago needed bus service too. So, of course, the other kids all followed."

Kammes Bus Service grew from one bus to a fleet of 150 that served students and special education classes throughout DuPage County for 22 years. It also included several highway coaches for local tours. When Mr. Kammes sold the business, he later launched R.P.K. Venture Inc., which he operated for 10 years to help service, convert and repair area bus fleets.

When he wasn't working on the farm, driving or repairing a bus, Mr. Kammes served on the Carol Stream Fire Protection District. He held several posts on the board, including president, over a 43-year period. Mr. Kammes became involved when he served as volunteer fireman in Keeneyville, before Carol Stream was incorporated as a village.

"A lot of times you'd just have to run out in the field and yell, 'Dick, there's a fire, you've got to go!'" his wife said.

After his retirement, Mr. Kammes and his wife converted one of their old buses into a mobile home and the couple enjoyed traveling the Midwest. Their favorite place, Betty Lou Kammes said, was their friends' Bob and Liz Alder's Christmas tree farm in Lodi, Wis.

Mr. Kammes was a lifelong member of the Catholic Church, first attending St. Isidore in Bloomingdale and later becoming a parishioner at St. Luke in Carol Stream, which was closer to his home.

He was inducted into the Wheaton Council 2601 of the Knights of Columbus.

In lieu of flowers, memorial Masses or donations to the Alzheimer's Association, 8430 W. Bryn Mawr, Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60631, would be appreciated. For details, call (630) 668-0016, or visit www.williams-kampp.com.