DuPage remembers open space advocate

DuPage leaders are remembering one of the men credited with helping preserve thousands of acres of open space in the county.

DuPage County Board Chiarman Robert Schillerstrom announced Tuesday that 88-year-old former county board member Frank Bellinger died Monday. He had suffered a stroke several years ago and Parkinson's disease had confined him to a wheelchair.

Bellinger served one of the longest consecutive stints ever on the DuPage board starting in 1961 and ending in retirement in 1988. Along the way, the influential Glen Ellyn resident and longtime college political science professor fought for large land purchases to provide open space for future generations and help control flood water.

"We went out for $157 million worth of bonds and people told us it would be the end of our political careers," said former board colleague and DuPage Forest Preserve President Chuck Vaughn. "But you know what, people still stopped us on the street over the next 25 years to thank us for doing that."

Bellinger was among a group of moderate DuPage Republicans who saw the advantage of spending money on open space, but it wasn't without a fight from conservatives within his own party.

"I had to be convinced," said former board member Ken Lehner. "He and (county board chairman) Jack Knuepfer worked on me about the southern part of the Danada property and I finally caved. And now you look at it and maybe we should have bought the whole thing."

The county spent $21 million to buy the 750-acre Danada Forest Preserve in Wheaton that features an equestrian center, multipurpose trails and the forest preserve's headquarters. In 2002, the entrance to the forest preserve was renamed the Frank Bellinger Parkway.

Former longtime forest preserve director Chuck Johnson credited Bellinger for helping him secure his position. Bellinger had once said the county board wanted to hire a "hack," but he fought for Johnson because he came to the office with a plan for the district.

"He was more moderate and progressive and it was wonderful to have someone on the board like that during the rough times," Johnson said.

A native of New York City, Bellinger arrived in DuPage County in the 1930s to attend Wheaton College. When World War II broke out he served as a pilot in the Navy. He used to joke about how odd that was because being from New York City, he didn't know how to drive.

"The interesting thing about his military service was he was a night radar fighter pilot in the Pacific," recalled former board member Bill Maio. "What they would do, because the radar back then was very primitive, was sneak up on a squadron of enemy airplanes and try to jump them from behind using the radar. He would do this when you couldn't see anything and the radar wasn't all that accurate so he said you had to be careful not to run into the plane you were trying to shoot down in the dark."

Maio said he and Bellinger would sometimes travel to air shows in Wisconsin, but planes weren't the only flying things that struck his fancy. Upon his retirement, Bellinger was named the forest preserve's "official bird-watcher."

Funeral arrangements are pending.