Since 1983, John Patterson has been planting, removing, pruning and caring for the 9,500 trees on the parkways of Western Springs.
One of two employees in the forestry division of the Department of Public Works, Patterson has cultivated a love of nature and a respect for safety precautions.
“I love being outside,” he says, driving through the village’s streets in a truck on a sunny spring day, passing lindens, American elms, service trees, pear trees and a line of newly planted Austrian pine strung along the Burlington Railroad right of way.
“Each year, we plant more along the railroad tracks. The trees act as a sound barrier, and they look nice,” he says.
When he started 13 years ago, Patterson says he knew less than the basics.
“I knew that trees had bark and leaves,” he says with a laugh.
He was hired as a part-time summer helper in public works and was asked to stay on after summer. After about a year, there was a vacancy in the forestry division, and he was asked if he wanted the position. He accepted it.
With on-the-job training and seminars he attended, he has acquired knowledge and certification. He is a state-licensed pesticide applicator, and in April, he completed a nine-week course at the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service in Countryside to become a certified arborist with the International Society of Arbor Culture.
His duties include contact with residents who may request some trimming or the removal of a diseased tree on the parkway, which is the area owned by the village between the street and the sidewalk. Because much of the planting is contracted to private firms, he also coordinates projects with those companies.
Overhead electrical wires, animals and working high off the ground are some of the dangers he faces. If tree limbs come within 10 feet of power lines, the department calls Commonwealth Edison to trim them back, Patterson says.
“There is a big emphasis on safety,” he says. “We have a minimal amount of accidents.”
Safety meetings are held once a week. The public works staff of 10 may watch a video on using a chain saw safely or repairing water main breaks, or they may hold driver-safety classes on special equipment.
Working with a chipper, a large machine that grinds tree branches and trunks into wood chips, is especially dangerous, Patterson says. “You have to watch because the branches can snag you and pull you in.”
Patterson says animals and insects–raccoons, squirrels, bees and hornets–make his job tricky. After a few years on the job, one day he was charmed by a friendly squirrel that came within several feet of him.
“Without thinking, I put my hand out to him. He took a flying leap, and before I knew it, his teeth were (biting) the end of my finger,” he says. “I learned not to do that anymore.”
Another time, a squirrel’s nest was wedged into a dead branch Patterson was trimming. “I thought it was abandoned. I poked it from different angles, and nothing seemed to be in there. So I went ahead and trimmed it and when it fell, two squirrels were airborne. One rode down in the nest. The other hit the sidewalk and ran.” The squirrels didn’t appear injured
“Other times I’ve been trimming, and all of a sudden (I) see a squirrel on a branch above (my) shoulder chattering in anger,” he says. He usually backs off a bit or comes back later. “You try to be prepared so there are no surprises.”
Working in the Public Works Department also entails plowing streets in winter, repairing streets and water mains, and plugging sewer leaks.
“I do some of that,” Patterson says, “but my specialty is forestry.”
Patterson, 40, was born in Elgin and lived for a time on the Southwest Side of Chicago. When he was in 4th grade, his family moved to Alsip. He graduated in 1973 from Eisenhower High School in Blue Island.
“I was kind of a rebel,” he says of his high school years. “I had no inkling of going to college. A lot of my friends were dropping out. I just managed to finish.”
In the years after high school, he worked in construction and on the loading docks of several companies.
One day when Patterson was in his mid-20s, his parents invited him to a New Year’s Eve service at their church.
“As a kid, I went to church with them, but I stopped going in high school. When they asked me to go, I said yes. I didn’t want to go out drinking.
“Around that time, I was starting to realize that some of the things I thought were attractive just didn’t satisfy me.” .
At church, he was deeply moved. “I just saw a group of people who cared for one another and reached out to me. I knew that was what I was looking for.”
He became so involved in the church that in 1978 he moved from Alsip to Countryside, where his church, the Brainard Avenue Baptist Church, was located. He began dating a member of the parish, whom he married in 1981. He and his wife, Jill, have three children, ages 12, 9 and 4.
In 1982, Patterson decided to become a minister, and he enrolled full time at the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.
Around the same time, he started looking for a part-time job he could hold while attending classes. He heard of an opening in the Western Springs Public Works Department from a member of his church. He applied and was hired.
He graduated from Moody with a diploma in pastoral training in 1985.
“It’s funny,” he says. “In high school, I was just getting by. When I went to Moody, my attitude was so different–I wanted all A’s.”
With hard work and the help of his wife, who typed his papers and helped him study, he graduated with honors. He was ordained at the Brainard Avenue Church in 1985.
Patterson and a friend established a mission in the Marquette Park area of Chicago, where they held church services in a union hall. When that closed after two years, Patterson heard about an opening for a pastor at the Parkview Baptist Church in Marseilles, near Ottawa.
“When I was hired there, I planned to quit this job,” he said. “The former director (of public works) suggested I stay until I got established there. I thought I would leave after a year or two, but I’m still here.”
In 1990, the village established a job status called permanent part-time, which offers partial benefits such as medical insurance and holiday pay. Patterson, who works four days a week, has worked under that status.
Frank Madler, director of public works, says Patterson is a conscientious worker who is extremely dependable, considering he commutes 65 miles one way.
“He’s a dedicated employee. John loves what he’s doing, and that’s why he stays. There are times when we have emergencies, and John will stay late, even though he has a long drive to get home. We’re glad to have him.”
The Patterson family moved to Marseilles in 1987. Patterson jokes that he has worn out six cars traveling 130 miles to and from work.
“Going from the city to the country was quite a shock,” he says. “Marseilles is a small farming community of about 5,000. We like it. It’s quieter, and things move slower.”
A small rural community has its share of social ills–teenage drinking, alcoholism, drugs–the same as any city, he says.
“That surprised me. I didn’t expect it, but people are people, and they have the same kinds of problems wherever they are.”
His wife helps with church activities, participating in and sometimes organizing women’s groups and Bible studies. “She’s available. In times of crisis, she will keep someone’s children overnight, and people at church do the same thing for us.”
His two jobs have much in common, Patterson says.
“I love being outside with the trees–you come to appreciate so much of God’s creation.”
