Q. How old are you?
A. 80
Q. How long have you lived in Oak Brook?
A. “I have lived here since 1955, so that’s 46 years.” Lela and her husband, Ray, had been living in an apartment in the 5400 block of North Kenmore Avenue in Chicago and looking for a home in Oak Brook. When her brother-in-law and his wife decided to sell their home at 3305 York Rd., Lela and Ray bought it. Today they live next door in their son’s house.
Q. How has Oak Brook changed since you moved there?
A. “It’s definitely different now. There were more woods and we didn’t have [the tollway] then. The biggest changes, of course, have been all the development and the traffic. The [Oakbrook] shopping center and all those office buildings–none of them were here when we came.”
Q. Is there any other change unique to Oak Brook?
A. “We used to see a lot more horseback riders. The first year or two the hunt group would come up the lane on their horses, but now with all the traffic there’s no way they could do that. Every year we would see fewer and fewer horseback riders. Last summer I only saw just one. But we still see wildlife here. The other day we had a couple of deer in the back yard and lately there have been complaints about coyotes.”
Q. Do you have any favorite places in Oak Brook?
A. “Well, I’ve always liked shopping at Marshall Field’s. Now I like Nordstrom too. And the bookstores we have here are pretty nice. I like Borders a lot–I like going there for coffee.”
