Former Orland Officials' Families Question Removal Of Names From Signs

ORLAND PARK, IL — The families of three former Orland Park officials for whom village buildings were named are questioning the removal and planned removal of their loved ones’ names from the exteriors of buildings dedicated to their memories. Replacing the names, instead, is that of current Mayor Keith Pekau. Orland Park officials say the changes are necessary to simplify and improve awareness of several buildings in the Village campus.

Descendants of the late Mayor Fred Owens, the late Village Trustee Bill Vogel and the late Village Treasurer Franklin Loebe are concerned with the names being removed or planned for removal from the exteriors of buildings in the Orland Park Village Center Complex at 147th and Ravinia Ave., the families said in a release.

"Towns designating landmarks to commemorate influential people in the community is a custom around the world," said Stephanie Owens, granddaughter of Fred Owens. "It pays homage to the community’s history and those who helped guide the town."

The Orland Park Board of Trustees voted to dedicate the Orland Park Village Hall to Owens’ memory in 1993 shortly after his death in 1992. Owens died of cancer at the age of 54, while still in office during the village’s Centennial Celebration.

"We were told that the signs with the names outside of all three Village Center buildings are going to be removed and so far, only my grandfather’s sign has been taken away," Owens said.

Owens was elected an Orland Park village trustee in 1979 and was re-elected in 1983. He was elected mayor in 1985 and subsequently re-elected in 1989.

Prior to being elected to the village board, Owens served on the Orland School District 135 Board of Education, his family detailed. He also founded a cooperative group of homeowners’ associations in Orland Park. His first elected office was to the Evergreen Park High School District 231 Board of Education, his family expounded further in the release.

Also planned for removal is the sign honoring the late Orland Park Trustee Bill Vogel; his name is displayed on the Orland Park Civic Center. Additionally, the family of former Orland Park Village Treasurer Franklin Loebe's name will be removed from the Recreation Center.

While the families behind the names react, Village Manager George Koczwara said, the actual name of the village hall, specifically, remains Frederick T. Owens Village Hall, and only the signage has changed.

"The Village recently completed a facilities study that, among other things, called for greater utilization of the buildings in the Village Center campus for recreation programming," Koczwarawrote to Patch in an email. "As a result, new wayfinding signage was needed to improve awareness and uniformity.

"All of the signage along Ravinia Avenue has been updated to match our standardized Village sign design and to provide actual wayfinding signage for four Village facilities of the Village Center."

A 2022 facility assessment led to a number of recommendations, Koczwara said. One very important change, he noted, was to move recreation programming from the former Cultural Arts Center to the Civic Center and the Franklin Loebe Recreation Center.

"This change, which saved the Village $6 million, has been implemented," he said. "Because of the various buildings, and their respective access driveways, the new wayfinding signage was an important element to assist patrons."

'Very Disappointing'

In a formal response to the changes, the families of Owens, Loebe, and Vogel, each detailed their respective family member's contributions to Orland Park, and why they believe their legacies should be honored.

Former Mayor Fred Owens

Fred Owens worked to bring Lake Michigan Water to Orland Park and initiated the ban on ”happy hour” promotions by Orland Park bars and taverns. The ordinance was used as a model throughout the state, family said. His efforts as founder and president of the Argonne Regional Consortium helped lead to the Argonne region being designated a ”High Tech Corridor of Opportunity.”

As a village trustee, Owens led the effort to professionalize village government, with the referendum to adopt the village manager form of government in 1983. His family later led the fight to retain that form of government, when current Mayor Keith Pekau in April 2023 pushed a referendum to shift from one that gives a village manager final decision-making ability in many matters, to one that returns that authority largely to the mayor. Voters decided against that change, instead opting to keep things as they are.

In 1987, Owens led the movement and created the Old Orland Heritage Foundation to save the 1898 Twin Tower Sanctuary of the United Methodist Church when the pastor wanted to demolish the building that was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. And, Owens oversaw the development of the award-winning Orland Park Village Center Complex in 1989, which included the village hall that would later bear his name.

Former Trustee Bill Vogel

Vogel served as an Orland Park village trustee for seven years and was planning to run for re-election at the end of his four-year term in April 1997. When Vogel died in 1996, the village board voted to dedicate the Civic Center to his memory because Vogel was known as “Mr. Orland Park.”

He was active with the Orland Park Kiwanis, the Orland Park Lions, the village’s Recreation Advisory Board, Friends of the Library, the Veterans of Foreign War Post 2604, the American Legion Post 118, the Boy Scouts, the Orland Park Veterans’ Commission, the Wabash Historical Society and the Old Orland Heritage Foundation. Vogel was a Navy Frogman during World War II.

Former Village Treasurer Franklin Loebe

Of the three men with buildings bearing their names, Loebe was the only one alive when the building was named in his honor.

"The name Loebe is synonymous with Orland Park history," family said.

One of the town's first stores, Loebe Brothers General Store, opened its doors on January 2, 1898. The original Loebe Brothers, Franklin's father John and his Uncle Albert, operated the General Store for 53 years. Franklin and his brother, Stewart, took it over in 1951. Franklin Loebe was born in an apartment above the store on April 18, 1906. Read more about his life here.

In 1929, Franklin was working in the family store when Mayor Ralph Jennings came in to ask if he'd serve as treasurer. Loebe's academic background and experience with the family business gave him the skills necessary. And, his owning one of the few adding machines in town was an added plus. Franklin hesitated at first, not wanting to take the position from Treasurer Archibald Kay, the depot agent for the Wabash Railroad. Franklin took the job once he knew Kay was no longer interested, his family said.

Shortly after the award winning Orland Park Village Center Complex opened in late 1989, the Village Board voted to name the Recreation Center in Loebe's honor.

"They passed it on a Monday night and Mayor Owens couldn't wait to come in the next day to tell me," Franklin Loebe said in a 1994 interview. His office in the Village Hall overlooked the building named for him. "I think they gave me that office so I could look out and keep an eye on things," he kidded.

Believed to be one of the longest serving officials in the State of Illinois, Loebe retired in 1994. He died in 2004, at the age of 97.

"It’s very disappointing that someone can arbitrarily decide to remove the names of gentlemen honored by former mayors and boards of trustees for their contributions to the Village of Orland Park," said Priscilla Loebe, daughter of Franklin. "You would think they would be so proud of Orland Park’s history—that they are now being permitted to add to through the grace of Orland Park voters."

Nancy (Loebe) Hessler shared her sister's sentiments.

“Even more disappointing is that the replacement signs include the current mayor’s name. Why is it okay for his name to be on the buildings, but not okay to have the names of the men who were honored?" Hessler said. "Frederick Owens’, William Vogel’s and Franklin Loebe’s names should remain. These were the gentlemen who were honored and who should be remembered."

The Owens, Vogel and Loebe families are encouraging people to voice their opposition to the names being removed from the exteriors of the buildings. The families have started a change.org petition Save OP Names for people to sign, and are urging residents to email and call village officials.

"My grandfather was a history teacher who loved Orland Park history and was an authority on Chicago history," Owens said. "It doesn’t make sense for the current village board to erase the parts of Orland Park history that include Fred Owens, Bill Vogel and Franklin Loebe by refusing to remember them as their village board predecessors voted when they named these buildings."

Koczwara said the plaque bearing Fred Owens' name and image remains on display inside the Village Hall building.