'Founding father' of Schaumburg parks dies

Bob Bock, a founding father of the Schaumburg Park District nearly 50 years ago, died Sunday at the age of 80.

Interviewed a few years ago on the Schaumburg Park District's cable access channel, Bock recalled being enlisted in 1963 by Schaumburg's then mayor, Bob Atcher, to help start the park district.

According to Bock, Atcher had heard about a movement to start an Elk Grove park district that would have included a large area of what had only recently become the village of Schaumburg.

Atcher wanted no part of that, and so Bock was put in charge of pulling the Schaumburg Park District together both legally and financially. He then joined its first board of commissioners and continued to serve until 1977.

“If it wasn't for Bob Bock, there wouldn't be a Schaumburg Park District,” said former executive director Jerry Handlon, whose time with the district started immediately after Bock's ended.

A move out of the district's boundaries required Bock to leave the board, but he continued to follow its growth with great interest, Handlon said.

“He had a great, great fondness for the park district, no question about it,” he said.

Bock was responsible for hiring the district's first executive director, Paul Derda. And before he left the board, he helped lay the groundwork for the $7.5 million referendum in 1978 that helped build many of the district's indoor and outdoor facilities — including the center on Sharon Lane that now bears his name.

“Bob had a lot of vision and could see that the community was going to grow,” Handlon said.

Though Bock left the park board 35 years ago, he hadn't been a stranger to any of the commissioners or administrators who've come along since.

Current Executive Director Jean Schlinkmann said Bock became strongly interested in the district's acquisition and development of the Schaumburg Golf Club and continued to bring his younger grandchildren to the district's programs.

“He was proud of the humble beginnings of the park district,” Schlinkmann said. “He had a warm smile and a hearty laugh.”

Commissioner Mike Daniels said the leadership skills Atcher recognized in Bock nearly five decades ago were evident to all.

“Bob was a hard worker, a clear thinker and a visionary kind of person,” Daniels said. “You just fell in love with this guy. He had real charisma.”

Bock grew up on the Northwest side of Chicago, where he married his wife of 52 years in 1951. After joining the Army in 1952, he spent the Korean War stationed in England where he taught soldiers shooting technique.

Bock moved to Schaumburg in 1959, only three years after the village's incorporation.

When he left the park board, he moved just outside the district and then later moved a bit further away to Elgin. But Bock eventually moved back to Schaumburg, Handlon said.

Visitation will be from 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Ahlgrim & Sons Funeral and Cremation Services at 330 W. Golf Road in Schaumburg. Services will be held there at 11 a.m. Thursday. Interment will be in St. Michael the Archangel Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to the Schaumburg Park Foundation, 235 E. Beech Drive, Schaumburg IL 60193.