50 years later, friend still remembers how Palatine park's namesake saved his sister's life

Every year, Mark Carpenter returns to the Palatine neighborhood where he grew up and visits the park near his childhood home on Sanborn Drive.

It's no ordinary trip down memory lane. It's a chance for Carpenter to honor the teenage friend who gave his life on June 15, 1972, to save his 10-year-old sister, Susie Carpenter, and another child from drowning in the nearby Lake Louise.

On Wednesday, Carpenter marked the 50th anniversary of his friend's heroism by placing a cross-shaped wreath of orchids near the entrance to Doug Lindberg Park, named in memory of the 16-year-old boy and his sacrifice.

A track star at Palatine High School, Lindberg broke high school pole vault records as a sophomore. Known by the nickname “Huck,” Lindberg would also organize neighborhood track meets, using a rock for a shot put and saplings from the woods for the pole vault. Homemade trophies were handed out, said Carpenter, who now lives in Crystal Lake.

“I called him the Pied Piper of the neighborhood, because everyone wanted to be involved,” said Carpenter, who describes Lindberg as quiet and reserved, but warm.

There is no doubt in Carpenter's mind that the teen was a future Olympian.

But that future ended with a heroic act that transcended anything Lindberg might have accomplished on an Olympic track.

Carpenter remembers June 15, 1972, as a bright and breezy day. Then 12 years old, he was chalking the field at a nearby Little League Baseball diamond when he saw an ambulance heading toward his home.

When he returned home, people began asking him, “Have you seen Doug?”

Doug's father, Charles Lindberg, said in a 1972 newspaper account that neighbors told him Doug was sitting behind the family home when he heard children screaming.

“Doug told them to hang on to the sides of their Styrofoam boat. Then he was in the water and swimming after them,” Charles Lindberg said.

Newspaper accounts said the panicked children grabbed Lindberg and at first pulled him underwater. But he managed to pry Susie loose and swim with her toward the shore.

More neighbors joined in the rescue effort, reaching the second child as he clung to the Styrofoam boat and taking him to the shore.

“Susan was taken from Doug's arms,” the newspaper story states. “In the confusion, no one noticed that Doug was drowning.”

His body was brought ashore an hour later.

Carpenter said he and his sister were permanently marked by the tragedy.

“Back then, they didn't have crisis counseling. It traumatized everybody. As a matter of fact, Susan never got over it,” he said of his sister, who died in January at 60 years old.

On Wednesday, Carpenter returned to the park not only to mourn the loss of a promising life cut tragically short but also to celebrate the legacy that Doug Lindberg Park leaves to future generations.

A large boulder near the park entrance features a plaque that recalls its namesake's heroism and reads in part, “It is hoped that for generations to come children who play in this park will be reminded of the unselfishness of one who died so young.”

A middle school runner paused while jogging down the path to touch the rock. Other children used chalk to draw on the path.

“That's what Doug would want,” Carpenter said. “Kids having fun in the park.”