The late Bert C. Metz had a Red Oak tree planted in his honor by the Village of La Grange Park on June 14 at the Village’s annual Arbor Day celebration.
A village resident for 70 years, Metz earned the accolade for not only many years of service to the La Grange Park community but also for building his new house on Meadowcrest Road around the Oak trees already on the lot, rather than cutting them down.
“This is just an outstanding event and my father would be very pleased that he’s being honored like this,” son Steve Metz said. “But he’d be kind of embarrassed in a way, because he wouldn’t want all that publicity. He did so much for this community, being involved in Little League and the Pet Parade. My father was very respected in the community.”
The ceremony included the tree planting on the Oak Avenue parkway, just east of the Newberry Avenue house that Metz bought after coming home from the Korean War.
Several Village officials were on hand, including Village President James Discipio, Trustees Mike Sheehan and Bob Lautner, Village Manager Julia Cedillo, Deputy Village Manager Maggie Jarr, and Public Works Director Rick Radde.
Radde served as emcee for the event, introducing Metz family members present and relating how the Village had been recognized as one of the Tree City USA municipalities for 37 years.
Steve Metz, his brother Gary, and sister Linda Cunningham reminisced about their father’s life. (The couple had another son, Brian, now deceased) Gary read a short history of his parent’s time together, and how all their children attended Forest Road School.
Bert Metz served in the Korean War for two years, first as a sniper and then in Army Intelligence, which led to his career as a methods analyst at Western Electric.
Metz was a mainstay of the Little League, serving as a Board member, coach, and even as a manager for one year. He also booked bands for the popular Little League Parade each year and served in the 1970s on the Village Caucus.
“He probably thinks he’s not worthy of the honor, but he’d be very appreciative,” Gary Metz said. “He’d probably lobby for any one of us to get the honor before him. It’s that silent generation.”
Linda, Metz’s youngest child, told the story of how her parents met.
“He used to spy on my mother sunbathing because he had an interest in her,” she said. “He was canvassing for some issue or another, going door-to-door because he needed signatures. It was a perfect opportunity to meet my mother and ask her out.”
The couple married on Valentine’s Day 1959, and soon moved to the house he designed and built at 910 Meadowcrest Rd.
“This is great,” granddaughter Lea Metz said, pointing to the houses her grandparents lived in, one on Newberry and the other on Oak, just across the street from one another. “He’d been a resident for 70 years. He loved La Grange Park and he loved sitting on his porch on Meadowcrest. I really enjoyed talking to him. He was really knowledgeable and wise … he built his house around the Oak trees.”
Arbor Day originated in 1872 and was the brainchild of Newspaper Editor J. Sterling Morton of Nebraska.
To promote awareness of the importance of trees, he proposed a tree-planting holiday — to be named Arbor Day — which resulted in about one million trees being planted in the Nebraska Territory that year.
The idea quickly caught on and spread to the rest of the country, with all 50 states now holding an official celebration.
The Arbor Day Foundation’s official national celebration is the last Friday in April, but various states often mark the day in different months.
La Grange Park has been recognized by the Foundation as a “Tree City” for 34 years. To be given that honor, a town must meet four criteria; have a tree board or department, have a tree care ordinance, spend at least $2 per capita on urban forestry, and celebrate Arbor Day.
La Grange Park’s tradition is to hold the event later in the warmer weather, and family members gathered and shared memories of Metz and what he meant to the Village.
La Grange Park began the Village tradition of honoring a citizen on Arbor Day in 2004. Every year, the Village seeks nominations from the community, and Village staff then votes on which nominee to honor.
Hank Beckman is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
