'No one knew more about this town than Mike Alft': Elginites remember former mayor, historian

A man who was both a big part of Elgin's history and one of its most well-known chroniclers has died.

E.C. "Mike" Alft passed away in his sleep early Monday morning at Jenners Pond Retirement Community in West Grove, Pennsylvania. He was 96.

Alft and his wife, Fran, had moved to Pennsylvania in 2016 to be closer to one of their adult children as she recovered from a stroke. She died shortly after.

The son of a traveling salesman, Alft attended 10 different schools growing up. That made him want to settle in and find a hometown. He also had a lifelong love of reading and history.

Alft moved to Elgin in 1950 when he was 25 to take a job teaching social studies at Dundee Community High School. Three years later, he took a job teaching economics and civics at Elgin High School, where he taught until 1994.

Alft served on the Elgin City Council from 1963 to 1967, then ran for mayor and won in 1967. He served as mayor until 1971.

Current Elgin Mayor David Kaptain attended Elgin High School in the 1960s and remembered being surprised that a teacher at his school would run for mayor.

Kaptain said Alft left a tangible impact on the city when he spearheaded an effort to make Vientiane in Laos a sister city to Elgin.

"That created the thread that helped bring our Lao population and Asian population to Elgin," Kaptain said. The Lao community in Elgin now makes up 7% of the city's population.

"He had a great impact on this city 50 years later," Kaptain said.

City council member Steve Thoren said his biggest contribution may have been sharing what he learned about Elgin's past.

"He was undoubtedly the most caring and interesting man involving Elgin's history of anyone I ever met," Thoren said. "If it hadn't been for him, so much unique history of Elgin's past would never have been uncovered.

"No one knew more about this town than Mike Alft," Thoren said.

Fellow Elgin historian Jerry Turnquist agreed.

"He was a true inspiration to me and many others, which led us to learn more about our city's fascinating history," Turnquist said. "The wealth of research he left us in his books and articles is priceless."

Alft wrote 17 books and numerous smaller pamphlets about Elgin over the years, including many documenting the history of the Gail Borden Library, according to library CEO Carole Medal.

"He was a champion of intellectual freedom," Medal said of Alft, who served as a trustee on the Gail Borden Public Library board from 1995 to 2007. He was also a founding member of the library's foundation.

Medal said his dedication to the library led to his being named an Illinois Library Association Luminary in 2010.

"Mike felt it was so important for people to have full, complete access to an excellent library," Medal said. "He challenged us to do the best we could, and he was always a shining light."

Alft was named the 2007 Elgin Image Awards' Lifetime Achievement winner. He also has a street named after him just north of Advocate Sherman Hospital.

Kaptain says Alft was "quite a character."

"One of his favorite stories was that he used to go to the casino every day, walk through the turnstile to give the city of Elgin $1, and walk out," Kaptain said. Under state law, Elgin gets 5% of Grand Victoria's gaming receipts plus a $1-per-person admission fee.

As Medal reminisced about Alft Monday, she found a log he had given her of books he had read from 1940 to 2012. It lists 2,651 books.

"It was the most comprehensive reading list you've ever seen," Medal said. "I'm sad for his passing because it's the end of an era, but what a wonderful life."