OP_071819
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OP_071819
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8 | July 18, 2019 | the orland Park Prairie news<br />
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Descendent of Orland Park pioneers<br />
reminiscences on time in village<br />
Erin Redmond<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
At 19, Leon Cooper was<br />
not exactly ready to buy<br />
his first house. But now,<br />
nearly 60 years later, he is<br />
glad he did.<br />
The 77-year-old Cooper<br />
purchased his house on<br />
Beacon Avenue in 1961<br />
from his grandfather, but<br />
his family’s roots in Orland<br />
Park were planted<br />
well before. Cooper is a<br />
descendent of one of the<br />
first families to settle in<br />
Orland Park, coming to<br />
the area in 1850 from England.<br />
The Cooper family established<br />
a large farm,<br />
which encompassed the<br />
area where present day<br />
Palos Primary Care Center<br />
and Centennial Park now<br />
rest.<br />
“I’ve lived here all my<br />
life,” Cooper said. “I grew<br />
up on the farm working.<br />
There was nothing here<br />
in Orland. There was [a]<br />
grocery store here, and if<br />
you went south off 143rd<br />
Street and Route 45, there<br />
was nothing after that. It<br />
was all farmland. It was a<br />
peaceful, little town. There<br />
wasn’t much excitement or<br />
anything, but we enjoyed<br />
country life.”<br />
Cooper’s father sold the<br />
d135<br />
From Page 3<br />
“Those three points all<br />
pushed it in their favor,”<br />
Peckham-Dodge said.<br />
Ray’s process will involve<br />
working with the<br />
board and other community<br />
stakeholders to build<br />
a 33-characteristic profile<br />
of the ideal superintendent.<br />
farm in 1959 — despite<br />
Cooper trying to convince<br />
him to keep it — and<br />
bought property in Manhattan.<br />
His father continued<br />
to rent land in Orland<br />
Park, however, keeping<br />
Cooper busy working the<br />
farms.<br />
A couple years later, in<br />
1961, Cooper and his new<br />
bride, Betty, bought the<br />
home in which they still<br />
live today.<br />
“I bought it from [my<br />
grandfather] in 1961, because<br />
he wanted to move<br />
out to Manhattan, where<br />
my dad had the new farm,”<br />
Leon said. “He said,<br />
‘You’re going to buy this<br />
house. At the time — 1961<br />
— the house was appraised<br />
at $14,000. I was only 19<br />
years old and wasn’t really<br />
thinking about buying<br />
a house. We had just gotten<br />
married, but I’m really<br />
grateful now that I did.”<br />
Leon has watched Orland<br />
Park evolve from a<br />
sleepy, little farm town<br />
into the bustling suburb it<br />
is today.<br />
Orland Park, Leon said,<br />
remained relatively unnoticed<br />
until 1975, when<br />
Orland Square was built.<br />
After that, he said “everything<br />
just exploded,”<br />
development-wise.<br />
With the mall’s arrival,<br />
Those stakeholders will<br />
include parents, area businesses,<br />
educators from<br />
neighboring districts, staff<br />
and even students.<br />
The firm will vet a<br />
large field of candidates,<br />
conduct community forums<br />
and narrow the field<br />
through numerous rounds<br />
of interviews.<br />
Peckham-Dodge said<br />
hiring a search firm is<br />
subdivision after subdivision<br />
was built, swallowing<br />
up most of the farmland<br />
Leon worked. But even<br />
with all the development,<br />
Leon commends the Village<br />
of Orland Park for<br />
staying true to its roots.<br />
“We live in the Old Orland<br />
area, which is like<br />
being in the country but<br />
with all the convenience<br />
of being in the city, because<br />
everything is within<br />
a few miles,” he said. “Orland<br />
is really good about<br />
parks and bike trails. They<br />
could’ve just subdivided it<br />
like a lot of towns around<br />
here did, but they really<br />
took care of the area. People<br />
like me ... were interested<br />
in making something<br />
good out of [the area].”<br />
Leon said he hopes<br />
Coopers will continue to<br />
reside in Orland Park for<br />
many generations to come.<br />
He also said he hopes the<br />
city continues to remain<br />
authentic to its small town<br />
roots.<br />
“We’ll probably stay<br />
here the rest of our lives,”<br />
Leon said. “I hope that one<br />
of my grandkids — I have<br />
a grandson and a granddaughter<br />
and two greatgranddaughters,<br />
3 and 4,<br />
but — I hope one of them<br />
takes this house over, but<br />
who knows?”<br />
necessary because the<br />
company will bring “an independent<br />
eye” to the process<br />
while making it much<br />
more efficient.<br />
“We really need to do<br />
this right way, and this<br />
is the way to do it,” she<br />
said. “I think the community<br />
will get heard, and I’m<br />
looking forward to finding<br />
a really good candidate.”
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