When lifelong Frankfort resident Dorothy Porter died June 18 at age 98, a valuable local resource was silenced.
By many accounts, Porter was a natural historian and a local treasure.
“Her wealth of information is so important,” said Judy Herder, president of the Frankfort Area Historical Society. “You know, you could always go to (Dorothy) for any information. She was wonderful that way — smart as a tack.”
Herder said she joined in 1980 when Porter was already a member of the historical society and a volunteer at the Frankfort Area Historical Society Museum, 132 W. Kansas St.
She said she found Porter to be a constant and reliable source of information about the village’s history.
Porter was especially valuable, Herder said, in supplying information about homes and families in the village’s historic district.
“We might take Ash Street or Maple Street and she . . . would go through each file and add whatever information (she) could about the residents,” Herder said.
Herder said the information was invaluable not only to the historical society but to people who purchased the homes and were excited to learn about its history.
Because of Porter’s excellent memory and her lifelong residency in Frankfort, Herder said “we could just go to the file and tell them everything we knew.”
Porter also helped to catalog thousands of obituaries of Frankfort residents used for the Frankfort Area Obituary Index program in the historical society and the Frankfort Community Public Library conducted as a service to the public.
Herder said Porter continued to be an important resource well into her final year of life, even when she was unable to leave her home.
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Those who knew her well said they are not surprised at Porter’s ability to remember the history of Frankfort, well into her 90s.
Family friends Becky, 59, and Richard Feigel, 60, of Frankfort, said Porter might have kept her mind sharp working on daily crossword puzzles up until just weeks before her death.
Becky Feigel, whose relationship with Porter goes back to her childhood when she attended many of the Elsner functions, said she always referred to Porter as “Aunt Dorothy” and said Porter introduced her to others as “my niece.”
The Feigels, who live “just down the street” from Porters home, became caregivers for the Porter home and then for Porter as needed over the last 20 years, especially when her husband Bob Porter became ill in the 1990s and died in 2002.
Despite their help, they said Porter always remained “very, very independent,” insisting on doing as much for herself as she could so that, in Porter’s words, she wouldn’t “get lazy.”
The Feigels recalled that Porter volunteered well into her 90s at St. Peter’s United Church of Christ in Frankfort as a bingo facilitator for retirement home residents, many who were younger than Porter, Becky Feigel said.
But Porter didn’t seem to consider herself old and believed in remaining productive wherever possible.
“She really pushed herself,” Becky Feigel said. “She would not accept help.”
Selma Blackmon, 76, Porter’s cousin, said Porter, born Dorothy Elsner April 1, 1918, was raised on the Elsner family dairy farm.
The land dates back to a purchase by John Elsner in 1865, Blackmon said.
Blackmon, “family historian’ of the Elsners, has been documenting Elsner family history for years.
Porter attended Joliet Township High School, graduating in 1936, and went on to earn a business degree in 1940 from the University of Illinois.
After her marriage to Bob Porter in 1943, she and her husband purchased a home in Frankfort where Porter remained until her recent death.
Described as “feisty,” “full of life,” and “a classy lady,” Porter made a lasting impression on those who knew her.
People interviewed for this column agreed that Porter often deflected attention away from herself.
They said Porter’s undeniable passion was for the history of the Elsner family and the Frankfort area.
“She wanted the heritage of Frankfort, of the Elsner family, to carry on so generations down the road could look back,” Becky Fiegel said.
Blackmon agreed.
“I really want to emphasize her knowledge and love of the history of Frankfort and the Elsner family,” Blackmon said. “She was always willing to share that information.”
Memorials to Dorothy Porter may be made to the Frankfort Area Historical Society, P.O. Box 546, Frankfort, IL., 60423.
Ginger Brashinger is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.