Winfield trustees honor deceased colleague

Winfield village trustees took time during a meeting Thursday to honor a colleague who died last week and described him as direct and to the point.

A moment of silence followed several comments by village officials praising the six-year tenure of Joel Kunesh, who died at his home Saturday with family at his side.

“I see Joel's sign here and it renders sadness in my heart,” Trustee Jack Bajor said. “He wanted to serve the village and did so with the right intent. He brought his own brand of public service and politics to this board.”

Kunesh had been dealing with an undisclosed illness for some time.

Village President Deb Birutis opened the meeting with a statement about Kunesh, who was first elected to the board in 2005.

“Joel was a great trustee and an even greater person,” she said. “He was passionate about Winfield. He cared deeply about the people of Winfield.”

Jim Hughes of the Riverwalk Committee, a committee dear to Kunesh, praised his efforts.

“The committee says goodbye to one of its strongest supporters,” he said. “He was straight and to the point. Joel was very special and dear to me.”

Kunesh did not start serving on the village board until after he retired. Village Attorney Kathy Elliot said the 74-year-old always kept his cool, something she said was rare in the 30-plus years she has served villages.

“He let you know what he was thinking,” she said. “The thing that I respected was that he never attacked anyone and never had a negative word about anybody. But he got his point across.”

Also at the meeting, the village board formally approved the purchase of a home in downtown Winfield that will aid in future development of Town Center.

The village will pay $250,000 for a nearly 11,000-square-foot parcel that fronts both High Lake and Jewell roads. The vote was supposed to take place at the board's Feb. 3 meeting but the blizzard that slammed the village postponed the vote.