St. Charles man beat polio, became a success

Chicago Cubs fans lament the fact they haven't seen their team play in the World Series since 1945.

Imagine the disappointment over having a chance to play in that 1945 World Series but being held back for health reasons.

The sons and daughters of Robert Kuhn never heard their father complain about polio, the illness that left him on the sidelines rather than as a star pitcher for the Cubs.

Instead, they remember him being a wonderful father and an inspirational man.

Kuhn died of brain cancer Jan. 4, a week short of his 82nd birthday, surrounded by family and friends in his St. Charles home.

He leaves behind a legacy of excellence in the accounting field and of inspiration to those living with disabilities.

At age 16, Kuhn came down with a form of polio, striking down a possible baseball career and forcing him to overcome paralysis. He endured four years of rehabilitation before he was able to walk with a leg brace and two canes.

"His was one of the last cases of polio in this area," said his son Tom Kuhn of West Chicago. "He had a walk-on tryout with the Cubs in 1943, and he was a promising pitcher with a great arm when tragedy struck him."

While his potential baseball career is an interesting side note, Kuhn will best be remembered for his prowess in accounting and business planning, and as a champion of laws that help the disabled.

"He was one of the most prominent CPAs in this area," said Tom Kuhn, who now runs Alexander X. Kuhn & Company, the accounting firm started by his grandfather in 1926 and run by his father from 1948 until his semi-retirement in 1996.

It was during that time Kuhn moved his family to the St. Charles area, but long before that, he had accomplished something that was rare for the 1970s.

When he and his wife divorced, Kuhn was awarded custody of their five adopted children.

"This was a man who had dealt with polio who raised five children on his own in the late 1970s, a time when single men commonly were not doing that," said his daughter Mary Anne Callahan of St. Charles.

Maria E. J. Kuhn, the oldest of Kuhn's children, was amazed at how well her father did as a single dad.

"He taught us to care for each other and watch over each other," said Maria E. J. Kuhn, who lives in Elburn. "We have a closeness that is something like you would see with twins."

Callahan said she never viewed her father's illness as a major handicap, mainly because he never did.

"I honestly never saw him struggle with it," Callahan said. "He accepted it, just saying this is the way it is and it's a fact of life I have to deal with. He was the epitome of knowing it's what's on the inside of a person that is important, not the outside."

At St. John Neumann Church in St. Charles, Kuhn served as a member of the finance committee, utilizing the skills he developed as treasurer and founder of the First National Bank of Brookfield and in his own accounting firm.

He was an advocate of the American Disabilities Act, pushing local developers and city administrations to follow the law and was active in the charitable work of the Walter J. and Edith Best Children's Charitable Foundation.

Kuhn related to the determination and work of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who also contracted the illness as a young man.

"He was a big fan of FDR's, for that reason," Tom Kuhn said.

Maria Kuhn felt the things her father did in private spoke volumes about the kind of man he was.

"He found out about a group of women in Cook County who were conducting burials of children with no names and no families, and he joined that group and started attending these burial ceremonies throughout the city," Maria said. "He just felt that no child should be buried without a name and without anyone at the burial."

Kuhn may have been blessed with athletic and accounting skills, but it was his people skills that really stood out.

"He was just an amazing person," Callahan said. "Even those who came in contact with him for a very short time could see it and knew it."

Maria E.J. Kuhn summed up her father's relationship with his children by saying: "He was not a father prone to agendas. He was prone to encourage us to follow our dreams, and he'd be right there with us."

Visitation for Robert Kuhn will be from 3 to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Yurs Funeral Home, 405 E. Main St., St. Charles. The funeral Mass will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. John Neumann Church, at Kirk Road and Route 64 in St. Charles.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Misericordia Heart of Mercy, 6300 N. Ridge, Chicago, IL 60660 or to the Home Health Care Physicians, 1800 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187. For information, call (630) 584-0060.