Shell station owner behind suburban landmark dies

Among local landmarks in the Northwest suburbs, a Shell station in Arlington Heights with a rocket on its roof stands out.

Grandt’s Shell Service Station has featured the 15-foot long rocket on its canopy for more than 50 years.

Roger Grandt, the station owner who welded the rocket out of oil drums as a promotion back in 1960, passed away Thursday. The lifelong Arlington Heights resident was 85.

His son, Craig, who manages the service station now, said his father worked as a mechanic at the shop before buying it in 1960 from its former owner, Virgil Horvath. Together, they designed the rocket to tie in with the space race with the Soviets and Shell’s new premium fuel, dubbed “rocket fuel.”

“It became our trademark,” Craig Grandt said. “It was an effective marketing tool that took on a life of its own. When people called and we tried to tell them how to get here, as soon as we said the Shell with the rocket on top, they knew right where we were.”

Mr. Grandt was the third generation of his family to settle in Arlington Heights. Like his parents and grandparents before him, he was an active member of St. Peter Lutheran Church and School in Arlington Heights.

Among his many volunteer roles, he helped form the Lutheran Laymen’s League, which built the ball field and playground on the property, and hosted a turkey dinner every spring as a fundraiser.

But congregation members say his lasting legacy lies halfway around the world, in Middleburg, South Africa.

Church leaders returned two weeks ago from dedicating a second school near St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, which was built in 1987 with funds raised by a mission commission in Arlington Heights. Mr. Grandt and his wife, Geraldine, led the commission.

“Roger was instrumental in getting that church started,” said Gary Grom, of Kildeer, congregation chairman. “His vision was instrumental in getting the church built, and it’s a movement that continues.”

When Mr. Grandt and his wife met the Rev. Mandla Khumalo during an evangelism clinic in 1986, they formed a deep connection and dedication to his mission of bringing organized religion to South Africans, particularly during Apartheid.

The church now draws 3,000 members and another 5,000 at the nearby satellite churches it supports. Its preschool is thriving, Grom said, and the new school eventually will serve 300 elementary students.

“Roger left a tremendous legacy,” Grom added.

Mr. Grandt was preceded in death by his son, David. Besides Craig, Mr. Grandt is survived by his wife, Geraldine, daughter Tracey (George) Surprenant, daughter-in-law Christine Grandt, as well as eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Visitation will take place from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Glueckert Funeral Home, 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road, in Arlington Heights. Funeral services are scheduled for 11 a.m. Monday at St. Peter Lutheran Church, 111 W. Olive St., in Arlington Heights.