Lake County forest preserve district 'founder' Ethel Untermyer dies

Ethel Untermyer, the woman credited as the driving force behind the creation of the Lake County Forest Preserve District, has died, officials announced Tuesday.

"She was a pioneer in recognizing how important it is to protect natural resources and provide open space to the residents of Lake County," forest board President Bonnie Thomson Carter said.

Untermyer died Saturday in her Riverwoods home. She was 84.

Her death comes just a year after the forest preserve district celebrated its 50th anniversary. Untermyer participated in those celebrations, Carter recalled, and spoke to the Daily Herald about her work in the late 1950s to preserve land for future generations.

Her campaign started, she said, because her young son "wanted to explore."

"I typed up a petition on my little IBM typewriter and circulated it throughout the county," she said last summer. "I got in my little Studebaker and headed around. We were undaunted."

The forest district was approved by 60 percent of the votes cast on Nov. 4, 1958. Ethel's Woods forest preserve near Antioch is named in her honor.

Untermyer's efforts "put Lake County on the map," Carter said.

"People want to come here because they value the open space that's provided," Carter said. "And she started all of that."

But Untermyer was more than merely the woman who got the forest district off the ground.

Born in Chicago, she attended Roosevelt University and was a strong supporter of the school. She also campaigned for social justice in the 1950s and got to know renowned figures such as authors James Baldwin and John Howard Griffin through that movement.

She wrote a children's book, published a newsletter about the deaf education movement and also wrote poetry, among other accomplishments.

Forest district Deputy Executive Director Andy Kimmel praised Untermyer as "a very wonderful, interesting and dynamic lady."

"Ethel loved her family a lot and loved nature a lot, and that's what drove her to feel we should have a forest preserve here in Lake County," Kimmel said. "She was a driving force in whatever she was involved in."

It is her work to create the forest district, however, for which Untermyer long will be remembered.

Forest district commissioner Diana O'Kelly met with Untermyer last month. During a conversation about the district's recent voter-approved $185 million fundraising effort for land purchases and improvement projects, Untermyer had one piece of advice.

"The last thing she said to me was, 'Buy, buy, buy, It's available now, honey. Make sure you buy it.'" O'Kelly recalled.

Carter suggested a way nature lovers can remember Untermyer.

"The next time you walk into a forest preserve and look at the beauty that's there, think about the woman who made it all possible - and thank her," she said.

Untermyer is survived by five children and 11 grandchildren.

A memorial service will begin at 10 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, at Kelley & Spalding Funeral Home, 1787 Deerfield Road, Highland Park. Interment will be at North Northfield Cemetery in Northbrook.