Former Schaumburg Township trustee, clerk, Historical Society President Bob Vinnedge dies

Longtime Schaumburg Township official and Historical Society President Bob Vinnedge of Hoffman Estates, who died Friday at 80 years old, is being remembered as a true gentleman and public servant by those who knew him best.

“His call to service in the township ran deep,” said his goddaughter Shannon Schock of Naperville. “He really did a lot. I don’t think he really realized. He was a rare person. He would take time to think and consider. I think that’s why people gravitated to him.”

The Ohio native had worked for Underwriters Laboratories before his retirement, where he was friends with Schock’s father before she was born. Upon moving to Elk Grove Village, he became involved with Schaumburg Township and several of its civic groups, including the Schaumburg Township Republican Organization.

Schaumburg Township Republican Committeeman Joe Folisi said he knew Vinnedge for about 40 years and considered him one of his closest friends. Vinnedge supported traditional Republican beliefs in limited, fiscally conservative government, he added.

“Bob was very community-minded and always wanted to help people in the community as best he could,” Folisi said. “He was really, really funny. He’s going to be missed.”

Pat Barch of Hoffman Estates was vice president when Vinnedge led Schaumburg Township Historical Society board. Apart from the love of local history he shared with the other members, Vinnedge’s greatest contribution was his practical knowledge of how to run an organization, she said.

“He was a man who was very dedicated to whatever he did,” Barch said. “He was a very social person. He loved people. When he moved out here, it felt like home to him. That warm, happy personality with a smile also drew in people.”

Vinnedge’s elected service as a trustee and clerk on the Schaumburg Township board came in two waves during the ’90s and the more recent 21st century.

He did not seek reelection as clerk this year, but served to the end of his term in May despite being recently diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndromes, or MDS. The term refers to a group of blood cancers in which the bone marrow doesn’t produce enough healthy blood cells.

Schock said both his illness and the treatments for it weren’t easy on him, but perhaps because he was the son of a physician he seemed determined to be a stoic, good patient.

Barch said she went to see him Friday to tell him the historical society had elected him president emeritus. But she found him unresponsive in hospice care — until their shared tradition of identifying themselves by their initials caused him to briefly open his eyes.

“I will miss him terribly,” she said. “There’ll be so many times I’ll want to call him and B.V. won’t be there.”

A memorial service is tentatively planned for Saturday, Aug. 9, but additional details were still being pinned down Tuesday, Schock said.