‘Schaumburg has lost a legend’: Eight-term mayor Al Larson dies at 85

Former Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson, a visionary leader who guided the community for more than four decades as it grew into the second largest economic hub in Illinois, died Tuesday at the age of 85.

His 32 years as mayor and prior 12 years as a village trustee was characterized by an unwavering drive to improve the community wherever and whenever opportunity existed, but also a willingness to protect the status quo when preferable.

“The village of Schaumburg has lost a legend,” current Mayor Tom Dailly said in a statement Wednesday.

“Al Larson instilled in me that Schaumburg should always strive to be more than bricks and mortar, blacktop, and concrete,” Dailly added. “Al was and always will be synonymous with Schaumburg and the progress he created. I will miss his mentorship, his charisma, and, most importantly his drive for Schaumburg to always reach new heights. There is no one who loved this village more than he did, and Al will always be my Mayor of Schaumburg.”

Village Manager Brian Townsend, who first met Larson in 1993, described him as the epitome of skilled, savvy and successful.

“Al was a visionary — someone who always saw the bigger picture — and saw great potential in the village of Schaumburg,” Townsend said in a statement. “His loss will be deeply felt by those who knew him and those like me who had the privilege of working with him. His enormous impact on the village he loved so dearly will be felt for generations to come.”

Woodfield Mall was open when Larson joined the village board, but it was only after he became a public official that Schaumburg took full advantage of the shopping center’s potential, members of the business community said.

“In my opinion, Schaumburg is not what it is today without Al Larson,” said Jim Burke, chief operating officer of Schaumburg-based Links Technology Solutions.

Burke, who assisted his father, Brian, in creating the Schaumburg Business Association in 2001, said Larson’s influence can be seen across the community.

“He had an incredible way of leading those (village) meetings and shutting down adversaries. What a leader!,” he added. “I grew up in Schaumburg and raised my kids in Schaumburg. All that growth happened under him.”

Laurie Stone, founding president of the SBA, echoed those sentiments.

“Without his support, we could not have grown as quickly and successfully as we did,” she said. “I think he made himself available. And he influenced everyone who worked for him at the village. Al took it to the next level. People in the business community recognized that. But he was anything but a pushover.”

Links Technology Solutions CEO Brian Burke said that while Larson’s leadership style was a combination of personality, experience and dedication to a vision, there was one added ingredient that gave it such impact.

“He loved that village so much,” he said. “That was the difference.”

Larson retired from public service in 2019, having helped build a center of commerce that demanded the kind of respect not initially granted the Northwest suburbs — once dismissed as the land beyond O'Hare.

How it began

Larson's eyes were opened to the possibility of public service when he wrote a letter to complain about snowplowing to then-Schaumburg Mayor Bob Atcher during his young family's first winter in the village in 1969-70.

When his wife, Nancy, told him the mayor had called to respond, the Chicago native could hardly believe his letter had an impact.

Larson soon became a member of Atcher's Schaumburg United Party, the Schaumburg Jaycees and the Schaumburg Environmental Committee. He also was appointed the village's public relations director.

But not until he was elected trustee in 1975 did he believe he had significant influence on the development of the then-19-year-old village.

The first major issue to which he applied that influence was street lighting. Early developers didn't accept responsibility for it, so there were neighborhoods left in total darkness at night.

The next question — which would go hand-in-hand with every proposed improvement that followed — was how to pay for it. After some thought and a little persuasion, the village imposed $3 vehicle stickers to pay for streetlights.

“It made sense to senior citizens, and it certainly made sense to young families,” Larson said.

Larson evolved into an independent voice on the village board, eventually resigning from the Schaumburg United Party to which every other trustee still belonged.

He drew the ire of Atcher, who, though no longer mayor, became a strong advocate for an extremely dense 40-acre development proposal named Woodfield '76, after the shopping mall that opened in 1971. Larson led the opposition to a plan that included 40-story buildings.

“He thought it was such a great idea,” Larson said of Atcher. “There wasn't a place on the face of the earth that could support the development that was being proposed. It never got built.”

Larson said he never desired the mayor’s office during his three terms as a village trustee. As the only independent on the board, his political survival often was enough of a concern.

But when Mayor Herb Aigner announced he would not seek reelection in 1987 and Larson heard the names of potential successors, he thought his experience and judgment were just as good.

What would the winner of that uphill battle think if he'd been told he'd remain mayor for nearly a third of a century — and twice as long as Atcher?

“I don't think he would believe it!” Larson said.

Building a community

Larson often is associated with his support for big projects in Schaumburg — among them the publicly owned baseball stadium, the convention center and the village’s purchase of the Schaumburg Airport to prevent it from being turned into an industrial park.

His support for the baseball stadium ­— now known as Wintrust Field — came from a desire to make Schaumburg different from other suburbs.

But he believed his influence was more profound in other ways, such as maintaining strong relationships with other local governments — including the Schaumburg Park District and Schaumburg Township District Library — to ensure the entire community was working toward shared goals.

“If you make a town more attractive, people want to work there, they want to live there,” Larson said. “People talk about how beautiful Schaumburg is.”

Cooperation and teamwork were hallmarks of his governing style. Over the decades, he observed other mayors who tried to dictate their agendas to their boards or councils. In many cases they become one-term mayors, Larson would note.

Seizing opportunity

While some communities would be thrown for a loop by the loss of a key employer as tied to the local identity as Motorola, Larson instead saw opportunity when the company announced it was relocating its headquarters in 2015.

Under his leadership, the Motorola campus was re-imagined as Veridian, a mini-community of businesses and multifamily housing that’s being built at Algonquin and Meacham roads.

“We are building a downtown for the Northwest suburbs,” he said at the time. “We're not just talking about it, we're doing something about it.”

Larson also was an ardent supporter of the arts and cultural events in town. That commitment was acknowledged in 2017, when the village’s Prairie Center for the Arts was renamed in his honor, a recognition that visibly moved the longtime mayor.

But when asked upon his retirement to name his most important legacy, Larson didn't hesitate for a moment.

“I hope I'm remembered most for my family and my kids,” he said.

Larson and his wife of 60 years, Nancy, raised five children in Schaumburg: Michael, Catherine, Elizabeth, David and Jennifer. He is survived by all of them as well as his children’s spouses, 12 grandchildren, and his sister, Lorna.

A visitation will be held from 2 to 7 p.m. Friday, March 22, at the Al Larson Prairie Center for the Arts, 201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg.