What stuck with people about Basil E. “Doc” Ping–former owner of The Eck Tavern in Bartlett and a maintenance worker for Elgin School District 46–was his kind, outgoing nature. But they can’t recall exactly how he came by his nickname, which he picked up while serving in the Navy in World War II. “He wasn’t a medic or doctor, so I don’t know where `Doc’ came from,” said his daughter, Jean. “He was like most men then; he served his time, put it behind him and came home.” Mr. Ping, 81, died Thursday, Dec. 4, in St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin after suffering a heart attack while undergoing lung surgery. He was raised on a farm in Downstate Newton, but as soon as he graduated from high school he moved to Bartlett with his sister and her husband. In 1943 he enlisted in the Navy, becoming a gunner’s mate charged with protecting merchant ships and oil tankers in the Pacific. Just before he shipped out, he married his wife, Jane. After his return he took a series of mechanical jobs, making use of skills learned on the farm. In 1956 the Pings bought The Eck Tavern and quickly developed a following for their Friday night fish fries and 99-cent lunches. “People used to say, `How can you make anything selling it for 99 cents?'” his daughter said. Carl Lalleman, a longtime friend, said he met Mr. Ping while delivering dairy goods to the tavern. “We’d sit and talk over coffee,” he said. “It ended up he wasn’t like a customer, he was a friend.” The couple sold the tavern after 13 years and took jobs at District 46, with Mrs. Ping working in the cafeteria and Mr. Ping doing maintenance work. They both retired in 1986, and Mr. Ping found more time to devote to his favorite hobby, woodworking. “I have some kitchen chairs that kept breaking and he’d always fix them,” Lalleman said. “Of course, he’d never take anything for it. And now I don’t know who’s going to fix them.” In addition to his daughter and his wife of 60 years, he is survived by another daughter, Sandra Smith; a sister, Lucille Coplan; two grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday in Countryside Funeral Home, 950 S. Bartlett Rd., Bartlett. A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the funeral home.
