A Tribute to my Dad

Roger Wallace Spiegler, a longtime Des Plaines resident and businessman, died of Alzheimer’s disease and complications due to the flu on Saturday, April 23, 2016, at his home in Tucson, Arizona .  He was 92 years old. And he was my dad.

Born January 3, 1924 to the late Walter and Mabel Busse Spiegler, Dad was preceded in death by his older sister, my aunt Shirley Spiegler Jacobs, and his younger brother, my uncle David. Dad graduated from Maine East High School in 1942. He entered the U.S. Army and served in the 42^nd Rainbow Division in France and Germany. His Division liberated Munich and the Dachau concentration camp.  After the war he attended the University of Illinois and graduated with a degree in Marketing in 1949.  He married Elaine Partridge in 1947 who he knew from high school, and they were married for almost sixty-five years until her death in 2012. For forty years he worked as manager of the men’s department in Spiegler’s Department Store, a landmark in downtown Des Plaines for ninety years, and later became co-owner.

Dad was a lifelong Elk and served as Exalted Ruler of the Des Plaines Elks from 1959-1960. He was also a member of the Lions Club.  In 1972 he was selected to be on the Board of Directors of the Des Plaines National Bank, and in 1974 he was elected as President of the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce.  Dad loved the game of golf and played well into his eighties.  He was a loyal Cubs, Bears, Bulls, and Blackhawks fan.