Elmhurst's Wilder Park holds a nearly century-old boulder inscribed with the names of three local men killed in World War I. A few miles away in Oakbrook Terrace, engraved bricks at Dorothy Drennon Park carry the names of community members who served in the armed forces.
The city's annual Veterans Day ceremony takes place at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 11 at the Wilder Park Veterans Memorial, Shaw Local reported.
The Wilder Park memorials
The Veterans Memorial in Wilder Park, south of Wilder Mansion at 225 South Prospect Ave., was dedicated on Memorial Day in 1993 to honor U.S. veterans who honorably served the country, according to Elmhurst Magazine.
At the memorial's entrance sits an older monument: a boulder with two plaques. The east-facing plaque, dated May 30, 1927, was placed by members of American Legion T.H.B. Post 187 and the citizens of Elmhurst. According to a transcription of the plaque, it reads "In Sacred Memory" and names Ernest H. Timrott, Richard Hintz and Kingsley C. Buck, three Elmhurst residents killed in action during World War I.
The initials "T.H.B." stand for Timrott, Hintz and Buck. World War I veterans from Elmhurst organized the post in 1919 to honor the three men, according to the post's official history cited by the Historical Marker Database.
Each man's story is distinct. Timrott enlisted soon after the U.S. entered the war in 1917 and was killed in action on June 3, 1918. His family was not notified until March 1919. Hintz was killed on July 19, 1918, by an enemy shell near Vierzy, France. Buck, a Marine, was killed at Belleau Wood on June 19, 1918, and is buried at the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery and Memorial.
The boulder originally stood in the northwest corner of Wilder Park, according to the Elmhurst History Museum as cited by the Historical Marker Database. It was moved to its current spot when the larger Veterans Memorial was built in 1993. A second plaque on the west-facing side, added May 30, 1977, marks the post's rededication of the memorial.
The Veterans Memorial Garden in Oakbrook Terrace
At Dorothy Drennon Park, located at Nimitz and Eisenhower in Oakbrook Terrace, the Oakbrook Terrace Park District created the Veterans Memorial Garden to honor residents who are serving or have served in the armed forces, according to the park district's website.
The garden centers on a tree and plaque surrounded by a brick path and perennial plantings. Names and service information of honored veterans and service members are engraved on bricks set into the path. A seat wall and benches provide a place to sit. The park is open daily from sunrise to 10 p.m.
The Nov. 11 ceremony at Wilder Park begins at 10:30 a.m.
