George Dunham
After a third of a century on Schaumburg’s village board, Trustee George Dunham will step down Dec. 31, leaving his seat open for a two-year appointment.
“I am beyond honored and beyond privileged to have served with all of you and with a number of other people that have gone before,” Dunham told his fellow trustees Tuesday while running his final village board meeting on behalf of absent Mayor Tom Dailly.
“I will miss this responsibility a great deal, but due to some life changes and some other things, it is time for me to move forward,” he added.
Dunham received a standing ovation and expressions of gratitude from his colleagues.
“First of all, we thank you for all of your service to the community, all of us and many other trustees that you have been working with you over the years, and village staff,” Trustee Jamie Clar said.
Dunham’s wife of 52 years, Diane, a Schaumburg Township trustee for 20 years, died from cancer on Nov. 30. But Dunham said his reasons for choosing to retire this month go beyond that.
“I’m 76 years old and it’s time to give this to someone younger,” he said. “I need to move forward and do some other things. I plan to devote some time to some learning that I want to do and some travel that I want to do.”
Dailly said the senior trustee has brought particular strengths to the village board.
“George has always brought an openness and friendliness to the residents,” he said. “He’s always dedicated to doing the job.”
Dunham cautioned anyone interested in following in his footsteps not to take the responsibilities of a village trustee lightly.
“This job is one for which you have to show up,” he said. “I had a very flexible schedule. Schaumburg has been extremely fortunate. We’ve had some fantastic trustees.”
He and his family moved to the Lexington Field South subdivision in 1978. His involvement with village affairs soon began as an opponent of a highly dense and mostly rental housing development proposed nearby.
“We were very vocal and very strident about what was being planned,” he said.
Dunham was appointed to an ad-hoc committee on residential development. He later served on the Schaumburg business development steering committee, and the Illinois International Convention Center Authority, when a multijurisdictional convention center was considered for the Northwest suburbs.
After losing a village board election in 1989, he served on Schaumburg’s plan commission until he was elected trustee in 1991. Though his knowledge and experience increased, he said his reasons for wanting to serve the community in his last election were exactly the same as in his first.
He will be further honored by the village after next Tuesday’s committee-of-the- whole meeting, the last meeting currently scheduled before his retirement.