The New Lenox Area Historical Society marked its 30th anniversary this month by paying tribute to a local family of retired firefighters.
The society recognized at its annual picnic the Krohns brothers: Wade, 90; Gene, 89; Dale, 87, and Glen, 85.
When adding their years of service together, the siblings performed duties for a total of 116 years for the New Lenox Fire Protection District, historical society officials said.
The society treated the Krohns to a cake and other refreshments at the program Aug. 4 outside the old Schmul School in the Will County Forest Preserve.
“We just felt because they are members of our historical society and members of the New Lenox community for many, many years … that we needed to recognize them for (their) years of service,” said Diane Wilson, president of the New Lenox Area Historical Society.
More Top Picks Best Warm Light Bulbs For Migraine Sufferers
The brothers started soon after the fire district was formed in the 1940s.
The siblings said they weren’t sure why they became firefighters but their sister Carol Terlep, 83, said she believes they joined the fire district “because when we were young our house burned down.”
Gene Krohn recalled the only things that were saved in the house fire were “a broken ladder, a sled and a broken shovel.”
While with the department, Gene Krohn had served as an assistant chief. For a while, one of his duties included blowing a whistle to alert other nearby volunteer firefighters about a blaze.
Gene Krohn was the first sibling to start with the district in 1948. He ended his service to the district in 1976.
His brother, Wade, started at the district in 1950, leaving in 1964, while brother Dale started in the 1950s, leaving in the 1970s.
Glen Krohn ended the siblings tie to the district when he left as a district trustee in June. He had been involved with the district for 55 years.
“I am not bragging but it (was) well deserved by all of us,” said Gene Krohn about the tribute.
Meanwhile, historical society officials pointed out that the site of the tribute, the 75-year-old one-room schoolhouse, was one of the historical society’s preservation projects when it was saved in 2000 from possible demolition.
New Lenox Area Historical Society President Diane Wilson said when the New Lenox School District had no further use for the schoolhouse in the late 1990s, the land and the building at the southeast corner of Route 30 and Schoolhouse Road were sold to Walgreens.
The company donated the building to the historical society, which raised funds to have the structure moved to its current site at the northeast corner of Lincoln Highway and Schoolhouse Road, Wilson said.
Wilson added the society is closing in on historically land marking about a dozen New Lenox area buildings, including the site of the Old Brick Tavern, reputed to have been a stop along Abraham Lincoln’s route between Joliet and Chicago and the site of an Underground Railroad stop.
Other projects for the historical society include a “coffee table-style book” to document New Lenox’s history in text and photos, Wilson said. She said the society is interested in using any material current or former residents can share for the book. No date is set for publication.
Wilson said membership is open to the general public and everyone is welcome to join the organization which has grown in the past 30 years, she said.
“Each year it gets bigger and bigger,” Wilson said. “We like to make history fun.”
For more information, visit www.newlenoxhistory.org.
Ginger Brashinger is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.