Park Ridge 3rd Ward Ald. Robert Wilkening, a longtime resident who had been elected to the City Council just four months ago, died Aug. 4. He was 69.
Wilkening died after “a brief but serious illness,” according to his son, Michael Wilkening.
Flags on city property were lowered to half-staff Aug. 5 to mourn Wilkening’s death, according to 2nd Ward Ald. Nicholas Milissis.
Wilkening had lived in Park Ridge for 39 years. His cause of death was not immediately available.
He was elected to the Park Ridge City Council in April and began serving in May. However, he had not appeared at a city meeting since June 22 because of an illness, according to 6th Ward Ald. Marc Mazzuca.
Milissis said he had encouraged Wilkening, who had been a frequent attendee of City Council meetings as a private citizen, to run for the 3rd Ward seat.
“I thought he had a thoughtful approach to solutions,” Milissis said of Wilkening. “He was very eager and energetic. I think his votes [in the City Council] were on the mark and I think he was going to make a great alderman. It’s too bad that was denied of him.”
Milissis said he was impressed with how Wilkening ran his campaign during the 3rd Ward’s first contested election in decades.
“He was a true gentleman in the way he ran his campaign,” he said. “He argued strictly on the issues. There were no personal attacks, and he was always a gentleman and a great guy.”
Fourth Ward Ald. Roger Shubert sat next to Wilkening during City Council meetings. Shubert said Wilkening contributed a lot during his brief tenure.
“Bob was terrific,” Shubert said. “He did a wonderful job during his two months on the council. He was someone who thought strategically on how to improve the village.”
There can be a big learning curve on the Park Ridge City Council, Shubert said, but Wilkening dove right in.
“The great thing about Bob is that he was never afraid to ask questions of me or the City Council,” Shubert said. “He was very energetic and brought a fresh perspective to the council in a short time.”
Wilkening’s son, Michael, said he looked up to his father from both a personal and professional standpoint.
“He was a very logical guy, and a very smart guy,” said Michael, 36, who grew up in Park Ridge and now lives in Des Plaines. “He always seemed to have an answer for every problem you might have.”
He said that his dad had been excited about beginning his tenure in city government, and had especially looked forward to tackling the problem of flooding in his ward — an issue that had initially sparked his interest in city government.
“He was always an engaged citizen, he was someone who was naturally curious,” Michael said.
Outside of his professional life, the alderman enjoyed reading, watching Formula 1 racing and target shooting, his son said.
Mazzuca, who grew up near Wilkening, first alerted some members of the City Council that Wilkening was sick at a meeting July 27.
“Bob was one of the most intelligent individuals to ever sit on the City Council in Park Ridge,” Mazzuca said in an emailed statement. “You would be hard-pressed to find any better colleague, or any better friend. And I will miss him more than I can possibly describe.”
During the run-up to the April election, Wilkening and now-1st Ward Ald. John Moran spent weeks together on the campaign trail. They quickly struck up a friendship, Moran said.
“I’ve known who he was for a very long time,” Moran said. “He’s just been a great civil servant for decades in our town. Early voting goes on for two weeks, and every day we were out there side by side.”
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The friendship continued to grow when the two realized they worked in the same office building on Northwest Highway.
“We would visit each other often at the office,” Moran said. “We very quickly became very good friends with each other, even though we were a generation apart. He was the oldest member of the City Council and I was the youngest.”
Park Ridge City Manager Shawn Hamilton said he had just begun working with Wilkening on a strategic plan for the city and was sorry the late alderman wouldn’t be able to see the project come to fruition.
“We had some meetings outside of a council meeting where he had given his time and talent to come in and sit in a conference room to work on establishing some goals and look at strategic planning,” Hamilton said. “I was really getting excited about working with Bob and spending the next four years with him. It’s unfortunate Bob will not be here to complete it.”
Wilkening previously served on the School District 64 Board of Education from 1985 to 1993, according to district officials. He also was president of the management consultancy Wilkening & Company.
He is survived by his wife of 40 years, Gail, and two adult children.
Visitation is scheduled from 3 to 8 p.m. Aug. 9 at Ryan-Parke Funeral Home, 120 S. Northwest Highway in Park Ridge. Funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Aug. 10 at St. Paul of the Cross Church, 320 S. Washington St. in Park Ridge.
Freelance reporter Ian Fullerton contributed to this story.