People of Mount Prospect

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address in Mount Prospect: 15 N. Elmhurst

Birth Date: 1905

 Death Date: 1987

Marriage
Date: 1927

 Spouse: Irene Haberkamp

Children: Robert, Janet (Angus)

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments:

Edwin Haberkamp was one of the most dedicated workers in Mount Prospect. He served on the Mount Prospect Fire Department from 1936 to 1970 or for 36 years, 13 of which he spent as Chief. He was the first full time fireman in Mount Prospect when a professional fire department was established in 1960 and he was elected the Vice President of the Great Lakes Division of the International Fire Chiefs Association in 1962.

Does MPHS have photographs:  Yes

Address in MP:

Birth Date: November 21, 1919

Death Date: June 15, 2000

Marriage
Date: May 1, 1947

Spouse:  Viola (Shepard-Hilker) Graef

Children: Lynn, Henry S, Frances, and Edna

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments:

Henry Graef began his career at 16 as an office boy with the Scully Steel Products Company, later United States Steel Supply Company. At different times he was the Manager of Commercial Research, Manager of Marketing Services, Manager of Materials Control, and Manager of Commercial Planning. He and his father also ran a repair shop for electrical appliances, mainly radios. He enlisted in the Signal Corps in August 1942 and served there until February 1946. Henry Graef was a life long learner and he went on to receive his Bachelor degree from Northwestern University in 1961 at the age of 42 with his wife and children looking on.

Henry Graef is best remembered for his involvement in community organizations.  He was: finance chair, North Star District BSA; president, Mount Prospect Combined Appeal (now the United Fund); president, Lions Park School PTA; president, Coordinating Council District 57 Schools; church school superintendent; chairs of the boards of education and Christian services, and co-chair, president, and secretary of Yomarcos for South Church; president, Mount Prospect Historical Society, director emeritus and trustee Elk Grove Township Schools; treasure of the Prairie Club, for 65 years; co-editor for 10 years of the Hazelhurst highlights; co-chair of the Family Cottage, Hazelhurst Operating Committee, Conservation Committee, and the Nomination Committee, all for the Prairie Club; Director of Mount Prospect Kiwanis; and newsletter editor and director of the Mount Prospect Park District Bridge Club.

Henry Graef was awarded Mount Prospect Shining Star Award in 1996 and the International Kiwanis George F. Hixson Award for service to the community and children of the world in 1999.

Does MPHS have photographs: No

Address in MP:  Unknown

Birth Date: Unknown

Death Date:  February, 1995

Marriage
Date: Unknown

Spouse: Phyllis Gattas

Children: 3 Daughters and 2 Sons

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments:

George Gattas was a World War II veteran who had been decorated with the Purple Heart. He worked for 22 years Prospect High School, mainly in the physical education department. In 1975 he was names the Athletic Director of the year.  He was also involved in many local organizations, including the Lions Club, Mount Prospect Police and Fire Commission, and served on the United Way Board of Directors. In 1996 he was posthumously given the Mount Prospect Shining Star Award.

Does MPHS have photographs: 

Address in MP: 

Birth Date: 1855

Death Date: 1940

Marriage
Date: 

Spouse:  Louis Garlisch, jr. (b. 1852 d. 1914)

Children:  

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments:

Carolina Garlisch grew up on the farms of northern Illinois. This was a life that was filled with chores and hard work. Most people would only have gone to school through the eight grade and for women even that was a stretch. Even as a young girl she would have been expected to help her mother keep house. This not only involved cooking and cleaning, but also would have involved caring for and eventually butchering the smaller animals, such as chickens and geese; sewing most of the clothes that the family wore; helping with the planting and harvesting; and many assorted projects, from making sausages from scrap to canning all the vegetables the family would eat all winter.

Carolina had some tough times over her years. She buried two of her sons, one of whom died at the age of 16 and the other at the age of 25. In 1914 she watched the world enter World War I and as a member of an exclusively German community, must have felt a little alienated. In the same year that Europe entered the First World War, she was widowed at the age of 59, although she lived on to be 85.

She was not able to maintain the farm on her own, so she moved into town and rented out the family homestead. She rented the farm to Henry Frederichs, who was a farmer and could keep up the property. However, this area, as well as the rest of country was hit by the economic collapse and the horrible weather conditions of the 1930s. The crash of the market was followed by a collapse in farming across the Great Plaines. The whole sale clearing of the prairies coupled with the environmentally careless industrial planting and the over production for the First World War and the booming years of the twenties had left the Great Plaines with over exposed top soil. With nothing left to break the winds or keep the dirt down, the top soil would dry and when a wind picked up it would blow huge dust clouds across the prairies. From Texas to the Dakotas, dust storms buried farms and small towns. While these dramatic conditions were not played out in the Chicago area, there were years of draught that was in part caused by the dust bowl further west.

The Garlisch Family Farm became a victim of this drought in 1936. With a years of below average rain fall and a heat wave in July, the family farm became a tinder box. On July 13th 1936 a spark in the barn ignited a bale of hay and the entire barn was engulfed in flames. Luckily, the neighboring farmers and two fire departments in the area responded: the Mount Prospect Volunteer Fire Department and the Des Plaines Fire Department. They were able to get almost all the animals out of the barn, although one horse returned to its stall and died. In the end, they were not able to save the barn, the chicken house, the garage, or the tool shed. They did save the house and the summer kitchen, but there was over $5,000 in losses, or $71,000 when adjusted for inflation. Luckily, a part of these costs were covered by insurance, but it was still quite a setback.

Does MPHS have photographs: Yes

Address in MP: 101 S. Maple Street

Birth Date:
Dietrich: August 8, 1881
Lena: May 23, 1885

Death Date:
Dietrich: July 15, 1955
Lena: July 6, 1964

Marriage
Date: 1904

Children: Bessie (Dietrich) Barnes

Interesting information on life, career, accomplishments:

The Friedrichs were the original owners of the house in which the Mount Prospect Historical Society is now headquartered. The Friedrichs were both born in the United States but were both the children of German immigrant families. During the 19th century this area was largely made up of German immigrant farmers. These were often large families with many children to help on the farm. Dietrich and Lena Friedrichs were both from this tradition but decided to be different in a number of ways. First, although they were both from very large families, each having ten brothers and sisters, they decided to only have one child. Their only child was named Bessie and she lived most of her life in their house.

Dietrich was also different from his family in that he did not support himself by farming. He worked as a house painter and decorator. This was an interesting occupation to choose considering that there were only twelve other houses in Mount Prospect. Arlington Heights and Des Plaines were more developed at that time and much of what is Mount Prospect today was simply unincorporated Cook County, Dietrich must have found work in these areas to support his business. The Friedrichs always painted their house white; in fact in the early twentieth century it was simply known as the “white house on the corner.”

The lives of the Friedrichs illustrate a number of larger trends. Their German immigrant background illustrates the history of the settlement of Mount Prospect and much of the upper Midwest. The large families that they were born into demonstrate the agricultural past of the area. Their choice to only have one child and work in a non-farm occupation shows the early twentieth century transition away from an immigrant agricultural community into the beginning of independent small communities. The Friedrichs and their home have a lot to tell Mount Prospect about its past.