Three-term president of Hanover Park and founder of town's food pantry dies

Louis F. Barone, three-term village president of Hanover Park from 1973 to 1985, died Wednesday. Barone, 92, also founded the Hanover Park Food Pantry and served as a deacon at St. Ansgar Roman Catholic Church in Hanover Park from 1987 to 2002.

"Lou was a friend to all he met, a genuine caring person," Village President Rod Craig said in a news release. "As village president, he made his mark by instituting the manager form of government, which professionalized the way we do business."

Barone served as a village trustee and clerk before being elected the village's fourth president. When he left office after 21 years of service, the first village hall and municipal building, built in 1961, was named after him. The village named the police department complex in the current village hall in his honor in 2004.

He also served as a vice president of the Illinois Municipal League and chairman of the Northwest Municipal Conference. He was active as a police department volunteer and established the police department chaplain program, serving as a chaplain until 2002.

He received the 1999 Cook County Sheriff's Senior Medal of Honor and the 2000 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award from the Human Relations Committee.

The village is placing memorial bunting on the entrance to village hall and on the village board room dais in his honor. All village flags will be placed at half-staff for one week.

Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. Monday at St. Mary Catholic Church, 312 Lincoln Ave., Woodstock, where he served in various ministries after moving to the town to live with his daughter after his wife died. His funeral service will follow at 11 a.m.