Bob Schanks: 'A Volunteer’s Volunteer'

Bolingbrook’s first police car never parked in the parking lot of a bustling police station. It parked in Bob Schanks’ garage.

Schanks, one of the founding father’s of , was instrumental in launching a village-based police and fire department after he had successfully helped spearhead the village’s incorporation in 1965.

"We lived in a house that had a half-attached garage,” said now ex-wife and Village Trustee Pat Schanks. “The very first squad car was parked in our garage and we would park our cars on the street. We walked door to door and sold raffle tickets to buy the first fire equipment … just a little tanker that carried water. It was almost funny when you stop and think about it."

And as the village prepares to celebrate its 46th birthday on Oct. 6, Bob Schanks, who now lives in a Will County assisted-living facility with an age-related illness, can say something not many residents can say: that he’s helped nurture a vision for greatness that has materialized in ways that surpassed anything he could have imagined.

Here’s how …

After completing a short stint in the Army in the late 1950s, Bob Shanks, with his young family in tow, settled into the newly constructed Westbury subdivision in 1961.

He didn’t know it at the time, but that was the start of a public service career that would span three decades.

Bob Schanks worked for ComEd in construction services but supported his growing family — he is the father of five boys — by ensuring they would be raised in a thriving community.

To reach his lofty goal, Bob Shanks wasted no time becoming involved by joining the newly formed Bolingbrook Home Owners Association.

"At that time there wasn’t much out here, and the association didn’t have meeting space back then, so we met in the Lemont Fire Station," Bob Shanks said.

Prior to incorporation, police and fire protection were offered through the Will County Police and the Lemont Fire Protection District.

"We were a much smaller town at the time and those were hard years. Bob was influential in getting many things done," Pat Schanks said. "Bolingbrook was uppermost in his heart and mind. He wanted so much for this village to become the greatest place to live."

Understanding the need to be recognized as a village in order to tap into larger public funds, Bob Schanks and the homeowners association began an effort to incorporate the village.

"We failed in 1963, but finally were able to successfully pass the referendum to incorporation in 1965," Bob Shanks said.

The group’s success in 1965 coincided with Bob Schanks’ term as president of the homeowners association.

Not one to sit on his laurels, he delved into politics, serving as a trustee on the village’s first elected board before being appointed interim mayor in 1967. He later would be elected mayor in 1969, a title he retained until 1973.

"Bob was good organizer and was easy to work and involved a lot of people," said Judy Bredweg, a former village trustee who is president of the Bolingbrook Senior Club. "In 1966, when Jack Leonard (the first mayor) resigned, the board nominated Bob and he had a big job to step into. During that time — because we were newly incorporated — we had a lot of developers who wanted to annex into town. You can’t imagine what that was like.

"Just one of his jobs was to deal with all the developers. There were so many… Hoffman and Roesmer built Indian Oaks, Surety Builders who built Ivanhoe, Kaughman and Broad with Beacon Ridge, Winston Centex built Winston Roads and so on. Bob put us in the sewer and water business when Surety Builders built the sewer treatment plant off of Royce Road and gave it to the village."

Bob Schanks also volunteered his expertise to assist in wiring the electrical system in the second village hall, which was located on Boughton Road.

After retiring from ComEd in 1992, Bob Schanks went on to serve as trustee with the DuPage Township before ultimately becoming township supervisor, where he served until 2005.

While in office, Schanks earned a reputation for persistence and compassion.

"He had tireless energy and he was very interactive," said Peg Miller, senior program director for DuPage Township. "Someone once said Bob was a volunteer’s volunteer. That is a very accurate description of Bob: as someone who went the extra mile to help serve others and was a strong advocate of general assistance and seniors."