Lake Zurich roots ran deep for Young

An avid conservationist, a trumpet player, a teacher and a renaissance man.

That's how family members remember Earl Young, 83, a lifelong Lake Zurich resident who died Wednesday afternoon in DeKalb.

He was struck by a Union Pacific freight train while walking near the intersection of East Lincoln Highway and Fourth Street.

Young's family owned property in downtown Lake Zurich that he later sold to the village for its downtown redevelopment projects.

That's where the Somerset townhouses now stand along East Lakeview Place, and a portion of a future condominium building is planned along Main Street across from the lakefront promenade.

"He was the third generation of the family living in Lake Zurich," said daughter Susan McCormick of Barrington. "That meant a lot to him. They were really almost founding fathers of that community in Lake Zurich."

McCormick said Young always thought green and had envisioned building solar-powered, eco-friendly shopping centers in downtown Lake Zurich.

"He loved the earth more than anybody that I've ever known," McCormick said. "He was an organic gardener. He was a beekeeper. Just everything that had to do with the earth is what he was really into."

Young's family owned and operated the former Maple Leaf Hotel in downtown Lake Zurich across from what is now LaSalle Bank, said village historian and Young's friend Spencer Loomis, 86.

"He was just a good citizen who minded his business," Loomis said. "He just was too busy with his own family."

Young sold musical instruments in DeKalb and served on the Lake Zurich school board years ago. He taught earth science and physics for 39 years at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook. But his heart was in Lake Zurich.

"He loved Lake Zurich and was very proud of the fact that his roots were in Lake Zurich," said daughter Sarah Hudson of Barrington.

Young also is survived by his wife, Nancy, son David Young of Conover, Wis., and daughters Nan Young of Lake Zurich and Carol Hoem of Island Lake.

A private family burial will be held at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Oak Mound Cemetery in Somonauk, Ill. A memorial service is set for 1:30 p.m. Dec. 8 at Barrington United Methodist Church, 98 Algonquin Road.