Chapel on the Green, near downtown Yorkville, will honor a substantial donation from the late Elmer Dickson during an open house from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 25.
Visitors can tour the building, a former church open to perform wedding services, and a community building, and enjoy refreshments before a brief program at 2 p.m. at which Elmer Dickson will be remembered.
Speakers will be his brother, attorney Fred Dickson, a member and past president of the Chapel on the Green Board, and historian Roger Matile. A retired editor of the Ledger-Sentinel, Matile writes a local history blog, historyonthefox, and has written or contributed to several local history publications. He is the volunteer director of the Little White School Museum in Oswego and a member of the board of the Oswegoland Heritage Association.
A presentation will be made to Elmer Dickson’s daughter, Kim, and son, Clay.
A Kendall County native and 1949 graduate of Yorkville High School, Elmer Dickson was the son of Alice and Homer Dickson who owned the farm implement business at the southwest corner of the Route 47 bridge in downtown Yorkville. Elmer returned to this area after serving as an instructor of engine mechanics in the United States Air Force and began farming.
He and his wife, Sydney, farmed 300 acres on Fox Road, Yorkville, and later acquired farmland previously owned by Col. Robert McCormick, owner of the Chicago Tribune.
After he developed back problems, he moved into town and went to work at the Yorkville National Bank, now part of Old Second Bank.
In 1966, he and Sydney used proceeds from the sale of the farms and the G.I. Bill to finance their education at the University of Illinois. He earned undergraduate, master’s and doctorate degrees in finance there by 1970. Dickson then taught at California State University at Chico for 20 years, ending as chairman of the Department of Finance and Marketing. While there, he also coached the university’s team in the International Collegiate Policy Games.
In retirement, he continued his lifelong interest in community history and genealogy and started the website kendallkin.com. He died in 2018 and his wife, Sydney, died in 2020.
Built in 1855 as the Yorkville Congregational Church, Chapel on the Green is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is used for community meetings, programs, and is available as a wedding venue.
There is no admission charge for the open house and everyone is welcome.
— Kathy Farren