Douglas Peterson was a successful Elmhurst entrepreneur with an actor’s heart, an abiding interest which led him to help found both the Green Man Theatre Group and the Elmhurst Center for the Performing Arts – ECPA, where he was a longtime board member.
“He was absolutely a founder,” said Jeff Budgell, ECPA board chairman. “If it weren’t for Doug, I wouldn’t have been involved. I’m not sure there would have been the effort there is today.”
Peterson was the co-owner and operator of Chicago Records Management in Franklin Park and was also on the management team for Tailgate for Dogs in Elmhurst, but after his family, his first love was theater.
“He was very much an entrepreneur and an actor,” Budgell said, adding that Peterson was successful in business and on stage, taking parts both with Green Man and with The GhostLight Theatre in Benton Harbor, Michigan, where he was also a director.
While he was accomplished in business and theater, Budgell said Peterson was just a great guy, a wonderful person.
Peterson, 66, died Friday, Feb. 14, according to published death notices and sources with ECPA.
Laura Michaud, now secretary of ECPA, knew Peterson for over 20 years after meeting him when both had children at Edison Elementary School in Elmhurst. Michaud is one of the founding board members of Stage 773, a Chicago-based performing arts organization.
“Around 2016, Doug, Jeff Budgell and some others came down to see Stage 773,” Michaud said. “They said Elmhurst needs a performing arts space. They decided they wanted to do something.”
Michaud said that was the beginning of what became the Elmhurst Center for the Performing Arts.
“It was Doug’s visit, Doug’s foresight, that became ECPA,” Michaud said.
As a result of that vision, Michaud said ECPA is now cooperating with the Ryan Company on what will become a multi-use building along Elmhurst’s First Street and wrapping around the corner onto Addison Avenue. The project, Michaud said, is to include a 24,000 square foot performing arts space which will include a theater, a rehearsal stage and a lounge area.
Rebecca Marianetti, choral director and theater director at York High School in Elmhurst and an ECPA board member, said Peterson “was one of the kindest, most sincere people I have ever known.”
“He worked tirelessly for his business and ECPA, but he always prioritized his family and friends as his most important commitment,” Marianetti said. “Doug loved theatre, the Cubs, and he truly loved Elmhurst. His giant smile and beautiful heart will be painfully missed. I cannot think of a more genuine, soft hearted soul who wanted to help others every day of his life.”
Peterson’s survivors include his wife, Cindy Peterson; daughter Julie; son Brian; sister Kristen Need; and brothers William, Richard, Michael and John. His daughter Danielle died in 2020.
No public services are planned.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
