Sam Dean home demolished in Oak Brook

The home of former Oak Brook Village President Sam Dean and his wife, Dorothy, was demolished Tuesday by the Oak Brook Park District.

Park District Executive Director Laure Kosey said the home at 115 Canterbury Lane had been sitting vacant for several years. “It was just time for it to go,” she said.

The park district purchased the property in 2005 after the Dorothy Dean set up a life trust so the 40-acre site would remain open space. She died in 2007, but her love of the outdoors is memorialized in the Dorothy and Sam Dean Nature Sanctuary.

The president and chief executive officer of what is now Dean Foods, Sam Dean was active in the creation of Oak Brook and served as village president. The main auditorium in the village hall is named after him. He passed away in 1976.

Dorothy Dean was active in political and civic affairs but had a passion for the environment. She is remembered for the troughs she set up in her backyard to feed wildlife.

The cost of the demolition was less than $20,000, Kosey said.