Aug. 10--As a boy, Richard Welton would stand in his family's driveway, giving pretend mayoral speeches behind a makeshift podium constructed of orange crates.
Welton later became the mayor of Gurnee, holding office from 1973 to 2001. According to his wife, it was the only job he ever wanted in politics.
"I can't tell you the number of people that called me to tell me that they tried to encourage Dick to run for higher office," Debby Welton said. "He told each of them that he was not interested; he wanted to develop the village of Gurnee."
Welton, 72, died of complications related to diabetes on July 31 at Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, his wife said.
Born Sept. 6, 1942, to Arthur and Mary Welton of Gurnee, Welton graduated from Warren Township High School in 1961. He received a degree from Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., in 1965.
After college, he went to work in the family business, Welton's Food Mart. He took over the store after his father died of a heart attack, and with the help of his seven siblings, expanded it to a five-store chain, his wife said.
In 1971, Welton was appointed a Gurnee trustee. Two years later, at age 30, he was elected as the youngest mayor in Illinois.
During Welton's tenure as mayor, the town's population grew from under 3,000 to nearly 30,000. He played a key role in the establishment of Six Flags Great America in 1976 and of Gurnee Mills, a shopping center, in 1991. Through these and other initiatives, Gurnee became the top retail community in Lake County for sales tax.
"He was a guy who liked to get things done," said Jim Hayner, a former Gurnee village administrator and Welton's brother-in-law.
He was known for taking a collaborative approach. "He always listened to the other side," Hayner said. "He didn't lock himself into one position where he wouldn't budge."
Being Gurnee's mayor was Welton's life's work. "He loved being mayor," Hayner said. "He lived and breathed it."
Welton was influential across the Lake County region. He took a turn as the president of the Illinois Municipal League. He served as chairman of the Lake County Joint Action Water Agency, through which he helped secure Lake Michigan water for Gurnee. After a record flood in 1986, he helped to found the Lake County Storm Water Management Commission.
For 27 years, Welton represented Lake County on the board of directors of Pace, the suburban bus division of the Regional Transportation Authority. He joined the board just four years after Pace was created.
"He knew a lot of the history," said Richard Kwasneski, chairman of the board. Whenever prospective initiatives came up that echoed previous efforts of the board, Welton would help the group to reflect on what had succeeded and failed in the past, Kwasneski said.
Welton's early practice speaking behind crates in the driveway foreshadowed what many saw as one of his true talents.
"He was a remarkable public speaker," Hayner said. "Probably the best speaker I ever saw."
In his early years in village politics, Hayner helped put together speeches for Welton. "You'd prepare a two-page speech, and he'd be right on track for about the first 50 words. Then he'd jump onto some tangent that would be humorous, and he would take the crowd on a journey," Hayner said.
Later in the speech, "he'd get back on track and summarize the key two or three points that you thought were over his head."
Welton was defeated in his 2001 reelection bid amid criticism of the rapid pace of development in Gurnee and elsewhere in Lake County.
Welton is also survived by two sons, Dick Jr. and Brett Schmidt; three daughters Natalie Ellis, Stacy Evans and Kristan Kolar; four sisters Maryann Sharifi, Martha Schmidt, Sara Hancock and Nancy Hayner; two brothers Harry and Bill; and seven grandchildren.
Services were held.
Kate Marshall Dole is a freelance reporter.
