A World War II veteran, Elmer O. Plumer served his community as chief of the volunteer fire department in North Riverside in the 1950s and early ’60s. “We had bells in the basement that would ring,” said his daughter Nancy Hutt. “Every time there was a fire call, we’d all get woken up, and my dad would be running out of the house.” Mr. Plumer, 80, died of cancer Saturday, Dec. 20, in ManorCare Health Services, Hinsdale. Born in Chicago, he grew up in Berwyn, graduating in 1941 from Morton High School in Cicero. After high school he started working as a machinist at Illinois Tool Works Inc. in Chicago. He retired in 1985, after working his way up to the position of industrial engineer. He served in the Army Air Forces in World War II with the military police patrolling in England. He met his first wife, Mary, in England, and they were married in 1945. They lived in North Riverside until they divorced in the early 1970s. Mr. Plumer was fire chief for at least eight years and helped start a civil defense system in North Riverside, his daughter said. He moved to Schaumburg after remarrying. His second wife, Eunice, has since died. Other survivors include another daughter, Victoria Todd; two stepsons, James and Don Liska; a sister, Alice Pizzuto; and six grandchildren. A service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday in Ahlgrim & Sons Funeral Home, 485 Bartlett Rd., Streamwood.
