For many years, the quiet suburban village of Long Grove had a message for developers: “We’ll see you in court.”
In 1980 the village was spending a quarter of its annual budget on legal fees for as many as a dozen lawsuits at a time. Then George G. Dickson was elected village president, and things started to change.
“He was a fair and generous man,” said Ann, his wife of 46 years. “But he was a businessman too. And he thought the town should be run that way–like a business.”
Mr. Dickson, 76, who ran Standard Safety Equipment Co. while volunteering 19 years in Long Grove, died of complications from heart disease Thursday, Sept. 19, in his home.
Mr. Dickson was raised in Winnetka. He grew up with interests in classical music and politics, passions that sustained him through his life. And he enjoyed business.
His family founded and still runs the McHenry County company for which Mr. Dickson served as CEO for nearly 30 years until his death.
“He worked his way up,” his wife said. He started in the factory before becoming a salesman, then vice president and CEO.
The New Trier High School graduate earned political science and history degrees from the University of Illinois. He also served as an infantryman during World War II and operated tanks during the Korean War. He was active in his college fraternity, serving as president of the Chi Psi educational fund.
The quiet man with a good sense of humor served on the village’s Plan Commission from 1973 to 1981 but is known to most in the area for continuing Long Grove’s history of preserving space while still running an efficient town.
“We believe in open space, which means low density,” he told the Tribune in 1990. “Some of our neighbors seem to feel that higher densities are better. We are opposed to that philosophy.”
Before he became village president in 1981, the village had been in legal tussles with neighboring Buffalo Grove, Vernon Hills and Mundelein.
“By the time his term was up in 1992, all the litigation in the village was done,” his wife said. “It’s what he wanted to do.”
Other survivors include four daughters, Nancy Moore, Susan Wagner, Janet Bacher and Sandra Shireman; a sister, Jean Dickson Treveiler; and 10 grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday at St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, 647 Dundee Ave., Barrington. The funeral will be 11 a.m. Monday at St. Michael’s.
