Foster M. Wells, 91, of Mt. Prospect, who worked as a construction engineer on the Interstate Highway 294 in the 1950s, died of complications from a heart attack on Sunday, June 9, in Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. He was born and raised in Mt. Sterling, Ky. Mr. Wells spent about two decades working as a road construction engineer for the Kentucky Highway Department. He served three years in the Navy in the Pacific during World War II. In 1952 Mr. Wells moved to West Virginia, where was a construction engineer for that state’s transportation department. Three years later, Mr. Wells moved to Chicago to become a chief construction engineer with a company hired to build I-294, also known as the Tri-State Tollway. When the road was completed, joined Vulcan Materials Co. hired Mr. Wells, a McCook-based supplier of infrastructure materials, as an assistant to the president. He served in that post until the mid-1980s, then worked part time as a consultant to the company. He retired in the mid-1990s. “Work was his life,” said his son, Michael. He said his father continued to keep an eye on the condition of the Tri-State. “He was proud that it had held up so well.” There were no other immediate survivors. A visitation will be held from 3 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Friedrichs Funeral Home, 320 W. Central Rd., Mt. Prospect, and from 1 to 2 p.m. Thursday in South Church, 501 S. Emerson St., Mt. Prospect. A service will follow at 2 p.m. in the church.
