William G. Lusthoff’s education started at a small Lutheran school, and he was not able to finish college. The experiences sparked a drive to help others overcome their hardships and achieve their dreams.
Mr. Lusthoff, 87, of Riverside, past chairman of the board of Lutheran Child and Family Services of Illinois and past director of Concordia University Foundation, died of natural causes on Monday, Sept. 20, in Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.
When he first joined the board of directors of Lutheran Child and Family Services in 1963, the social service agency served 5,000 people statewide.
Today, the agency helps four times as many people in part because of the strong foundation Mr. Lusthoff laid in the 18 years he served on the board, with 2 years as chairman, said Gene Svebakken, president and CEO of the agency.
“He brought strong expectations on how this organization was to function as a business,” he said of the River Forest-based agency, which has 30 service sites around the state. “But he also had a real passion for those who were less fortunate, which was closely tied to his strong faith belief.”
Fiscally conservative, Mr. Lusthoff also watched each dollar closely, Svebakken said, adding that he often dreaded budget meetings “because I knew that there would be questions that Bill Lusthoff would ask that I could not answer.”
“Although he was off the board for a number of years, he is a voice I hear from time to time: `Should we be doing this, and if we are going to do this, can we do it well?'” Svebakken said.
His strong belief in Christian education led him to Concordia College, now Concordia University, a Lutheran liberal arts college in River Forest, where he helped form the Concordia University Foundation and set up the university’s endowment, said his son Craig. He served on its board of directors from 1968 through the ’80s and remained on the investment committee.
In 1982, he was on the initial board that set up the joint program that established West Suburban College of Nursing with the university.
“He supported [the university] in so many ways in terms of public activities as well as … serving as an example to others in terms of volunteer giving of his time, giving of his money and inspiring others to do the same,” said Fred Spurgat, retired senior vice president for administration with Concordia.
Mr. Lusthoff was born in a home at 29th Street and Komensky Avenue in Chicago’s South Lawndale neighborhood, and throughout his youth, Mr. Lusthoff worked for his father’s meat-packing company. He graduated from Luther Institute in Chicago.
At the start of World War II in 1941, he left his father’s business and took a job with Simmonds-Folkening Co. in Chicago, a firm representing steel manufacturing.
That same year, he married his wife, Ruth, whom he had known since grade school.
In the early part of the war he was deferred from military service because of the crucial nature of steel, said his son. But as the end of the war neared, he was drafted into the Army.
He was stationed in Washington and worked in manpower placement. After the war he returned to Simmonds-Folkening, and in the mid-1950s he bought out the principals and became president.
“The company became one of the largest of its kind in the Midwest,” said his son. “Frankly, it was because of his personality and the fact that he stressed that the focus of the company was to be on the service of the customer. If the customer had a problem, everyone from him to the salesmen worked to find a solution.”
Northwestern Steel and Wire of Sterling, Ill., Empire Detroit Steel of Ohio and Newark Wire Cloth of New Jersey were three of his major clients. In 1987, the company was sold to Empire Steel.
“He had a personality where he was able to mix humor with purpose. He exhibited leadership qualities and he was able to get people to do things, whether it would be church, work or other activities,” his son said.
Mr. Lusthoff was active in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Brookfield and was a resident of Riverside for 50 years.
Other survivors include his daughter, Ruth Anne Brendemuhl; a sister, Lucille Seyl; and five grandchildren.
Visitation will be held from 3:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesday in Hitzeman Funeral Home, 9445 W. 31st St., Brookfield. Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Park and Grant Avenues.
