Longtime Elburn pharmacist Gliddon dies at 92

A man who helped many an Elburn resident through many an illness for the last half of the 20th century has died.

Pharmacist Almer T. Gliddon, 92, of Sugar Grove, died Saturday. A visitation and services were scheduled for early afternoon and evening Wednesday at Community Congregational United Church of Christ, Route 47 and Shannon Street, Elburn.

Gliddon and his two brothers began working at Wilcox Drugs in Hampshire in the 1930s while attending high school.

For a while, he studied for a different career - podiatry, said his daughter, Mary Gustafson. But Gliddon realized, he told her, that "He'd rather stand on his feet all day (at a pharmacy) than smell other people's feet all day," she said, laughing.

Gliddon and the pharmacist's daughter, Margaret Wilcox, married in November 1941. He enlisted in the Navy in 1942, serving as a pharmacist's mate in a fleet hospital.

In 1946, the Gliddons bought the Hoffman Drug Store in Elburn. They lived in an apartment in the back of the store. "I was there from the get-go," said Mary, whose former bedroom later became her office when she and her husband bought the store in 1982.

"He enjoyed interacting with the kids," Mary said, noting the store had a soda fountain for a long time, and was a popular spot for children to get candy and comic books. And "he liked people; he wanted them to be healthy," she said, to the point of opening the store in the middle of the night if someone who was ill and needed medication.

Margaret died in 1982. Gliddon continued to work at the store as a pharmacist until 1988, and a clerk until 1992. He married Ann Goetz in 1994.

The Gustafsons ran the store until closing it in May 2007.

Gliddon belonged to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Batavia Overseas Post 1197; the Navy League of the United States; Voiture Local 592 of the 40 and 8; and was a post commander for the Elburn American Legion Post and the Kane County Council of the American Legion. He was a longtime member, present corresponding secretary and former president of the Chicago Veteran Druggists Association, and was an Elburn village trustee.

Gliddon is survived by his wife; children Mary (Ken) Gustafson of Elburn, Steve Gliddon of Elburn and Ethel (Bill) Cole of Manteno; five grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial has been established in his name to benefit his favorite charities. Checks can be made to the "Almer Gliddon Memorial" and mailed in care of P.O. Box 66, Elburn, IL 60119. Tributes may also be forwarded to the same address or on the Internet at conleycare.com.