Former Fox River Grove police chief remembered as a steadying presence amid tragedy
Former Fox River Grove Police Chief Robert "Bob" H. Polston, who steered the small village through its greatest tragedy, died Sunday at 75.
Polston started at the department in 1975, was promoted to chief in 1981 and retired in 2007.
On the morning of October 25, 1995, Polston was showing state engineers the intersection of Algonquin Road, Route 14 and the Union Pacific railroad tracks when a Metra train going 60 mph smashed into the back of a school bus carrying students to Cary-Grove High School. Five students died at the scene, two later succumbed to their injuries and 21 others were injured.
Polston witnessed the crash, reported it on his police radio and was the first to help the survivors.
Polston went to every visitation and funeral for the victims and kept in touch with their families after the tragedy, said Cary Hughes, the pastor at Living Grace Community Church in Cary, where Polston was a member for decades.
Village officials said in 2007 that Polston was a steadying presence through trying circumstances.
"I know it really affected him," said Ed Synek, a friend and neighbor of Polston. "He didn't really talk about it much."
Synek, who served as a police officer in Cary, said that although he never worked for Polston, every single officer who did had only nice things to say about him as a leader and a person.
"It didn't matter what kind of day you were having, he always had a way of putting a smile on your face no matter what," Synek said. "Whatever parting words we have were of a positive nature and made you feel better."
Kim Nordin, a director at Davenport Family Funeral Homes and another friend of Polston, said everyone loved him.
"He had the warmest smile and was very friendly, giving and generous," Nordin said, who attended church with Polston.
When Polston retired, he told the Daily Herald what he would miss most about the job is the people.
"The people in town were real good - they still are," Polston said. "The officers are excellent. The people, they were just enjoyable."
Polston and his wife, Paula, recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They raised two children had six grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
"Paula told me every day when she got home he'd be there in the garage to greet her and help with the groceries or whatever she needed help with," Hughes said of Polston after his retirement. "He was an amazing man."
A visitation for Polston will run from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at the Davenport Family Funeral Home at 419 E. Terra Cotta Ave. in Crystal Lake. A second visitation service will begin at 10 a.m. Saturday at Living Grace Community Church at 1500 Silver Lake Road in Cary before a funeral service at 11:30 a.m. The burial will follow at Windridge Memorial Park in Cary.