Kenneth Cherwin, the former president of a custom millwork company, was called on to use his woodworking skills to craft a shadowbox that was presented to Pope John Paul II during his 1979 visit to Chicago.
“My father and the family are Polish, and he was asked by the city to help make the gift,” said his daughter Kathleen Jacobi. “It opened like a book and has a likeness of the pope.”
The shadowbox had images etched on glass inside the case that Mr. Cherwin made, his daughter said.
Mr. Cherwin, 80, died of complications from cancer Thursday, Sept. 6, in his Mt. Prospect home.
Whether it was producing custom millwork for which his company, Chicago Millmen’s Inc., was known or playing the oboe, he had a gift for getting the best out of wood, family members said.
Mr. Cherwin grew up in Chicago and was a graduate of St. Philip High School, which has since closed. In high school, he was a Golden Gloves boxer, played football and was the salutatorian of his class, family members said.
Mr. Cherwin also played the oboe in high school, and family members said he won a citywide competition that earned him an opportunity to play two or three times with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
He had hoped to become a doctor after graduating from college, but he was drafted into the Army Air Forces in early 1945. He left the service in late 1946, but faced a different sort of draft.
“He was called to help in the family business,” his daughter said.
Chicago Millmen’s was a specialty lumber and millwork business on Chicago’s Northwest Side. Mr. Cherwin was living and working in Chicago when a sister arranged a blind date for him with Helen Smith, one of her co-workers. The two were married on Labor Day in 1947 and recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. The family moved to Mt. Prospect in 1954.
Mr. Cherwin was president of the family business, now closed, when he retired in 1989.
Chicago Millmen’s provided trim and other wood products for construction and remodeling projects, and for well-known people such as advice columnist Ann Landers, his daughter said.
“When certain movies came into Chicago, he was called on to provide the sets for different shots throughout the city,” said his daughter, who remembered her father working on “Risky Business,” a 1983 film starring Tom Cruise.
“He could craft just about anything,” said Jeanette White, a friend and neighbor for more than 50 years. “He made some incredible folding tables with redwood trim that he gave to neighbors.”
White said Mr. Cherwin also took an interest in her six children after her husband died in 1989.
“He encouraged the children in sports and in their studies,” she said, adding that her two youngest sons, then 8 and 10, often called Mr. Cherwin their “other father.”
Mr. Cherwin played golf most of his life, but the focus of his game changed after retirement.
“Every time we were on the course, I would hear about all the wonderful things his grandchildren had done,” said Don Hoeg, a friend and neighbor. “He was an outstanding father, but he was an even better grandfather.”
Mr. Cherwin also gardened and grew tomato plants that his daughter said were 7-feet tall.
“He never revealed his secret,” she said.
In addition to his daughter, Mr. Cherwin is survived by his wife, Helen; another daughter, Mary Delaney-Sullivan; three sons, Kenneth Jr., James and Terrence; a sister, Rosemary; a brother, Gerald; 17 grandchildren; and 10 great-grandchildren.
Services have been held.
