Mayor Joe Werner; A Legacy of Service and Community

Episode Transcript
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Israel (00:00):
Welcome to Mokina's Front Porch a Mokina history
podcast with Matt Galek and me,israel Smith.
Many just refer to him as MayorJoe, but Joe Warner was a
village trustee for 12 years inMokina and he also served eight
years as the mayor of Mokina.
But his time here really was somuch more than that, and

(00:21):
especially the years since heleft office as mayor.
During his time in Waukena hehad a lasting effect on our
village that will be appreciatedfor years to come.
You'll hear about a lot ofthose accomplishments in this
episode as I speak to peoplethat knew him, that worked with
him, that loved him and that ranagainst him.
But one thing from all of thosepeople is true that they

(00:42):
believe that Joe cared forWokina and that he did what was
best for our village.
I'm excited I got to share thisstory of Mayor Joe Warner.
I believe Mayor Joe lovedMokina very much and he loved
his wife and daughter, who Ialso got to speak to for this
episode.
Pat and Joe were married for 40years and had a daughter,

(01:03):
amanda.
We get to hear some greatstories and memories that they
share about the time that theyhad together.
This episode includes thoughtsfrom Mayor Frank Fleischer,
former and current villagetrustees, co-workers and friends
.
I'm really happy I got to sharethis story.
I'm glad we get to highlightsomebody who had such a
significant and long-lastingeffect on our village.

(01:26):
I want to give you anopportunity to include your
thoughts or memories about MayorJoe in this episode.
So if you have thoughts ormemories about Mayor Joe that
you'd like to share on thispodcast, you can call and leave
your voicemail at 872-255-9259,and we'll include that in an

(01:47):
episode.
I'm going to leave that openuntil July 4th, so any voicemail
that's received before thatwill be included in an updated
episode.
So again, you can call us,leave us a voicemail at
872-255-9259.
You can also email it to us atpodcast at Mokina's Front Porch

(02:08):
if you want to send it as avoice file.
So I hope to hear your thoughtsabout Mayor Joe.
I really hope you'll share thisstory with others and share the
story of Mayor Joe for years tocome as someone who played a
significant role in the historyof our village.
Be sure to watch the YouTubevideo of this episode as well
for pictures and video clips, aswell as some of my live

(02:31):
interview of both Pat and AmandaJoe's wife and daughter.
You can find that by going toYouTube and searching Mokina's
Front Porch.
I'm happy I get to share someof the story of Mayor Joe Werner
.
I hope you enjoy this episodeand be sure to call and leave
your comments and stories aswell.
Okay, well, thank you both forsitting down and talking with me

(02:53):
tonight, and I'm sure it's noteasy.
Mayor Joe passed away not thatlong ago Christmas Eve and, as I
know, as I've gotten to talk topeople you know, you hear about
the impact he made, thecontribution he made and the
love that he had for Mokina, andso I really wanted to talk to

(03:15):
you both.
You know, get his story, getyour story.
You know Amanda, talk to youabout what it was like growing
up as a child of a trustee andthen a mayor, and then Pat, of
course, kind of your story, howyou came to know each other and
ended up here in Mokena and that.
So maybe just start with that.

(03:36):
Where were you born?

Pat (03:38):
I was born in Chicago and lived there until I was like six
, I think, and then we moved toBlue Island and lived there
until I was like six, I think.
And then we moved to BlueIsland and I met Joe when I was
I had just started workingdowntown and we had a mutual
friend who introduced us like ablind date type thing.

Israel (03:56):
And he was living in the city as well.

Pat (03:58):
No, he was out here too.
He was in Palos.

Israel (04:00):
Oh, okay.

Pat (04:02):
So we ended up meeting, although I really wasn't into
like a blind date thing.
So I originally told him no,that I didn't want to go on a
date, and then he ended upsending me some roses.

Amanda (04:12):
Wow.

Pat (04:13):
And so then he said, will you please go out with me now?
So we ended up going out andhitting it off.

Israel (04:18):
And what were your first impressions?

Pat (04:20):
Just a really nice friendly guy and we just hit it off
because he was so easygoing andfriendly and outgoing and
everything and I was more on theshy side, so it was nice that
he was like that more outgoingand everything.

Israel (04:33):
And how old were you both when you met?

Pat (04:36):
I was 19 when we met and he was like 24.

Israel (04:40):
Okay, and what was he doing at the time?

Pat (04:42):
He was doing plumbing, because that's what he started
doing, and then he ended upowning his own plumbing company.

Israel (04:51):
And was his family in plumbing, or how did he get into
doing plumbing?

Pat (04:55):
Yeah, it was like a family thing.
His dad worked for a plumbingcompany and then Joe started
working at the same company.
His brother was a plumber.
It was like a lot of people inthe family were plumbers.

Israel (05:04):
Okay, and jumping a little bit, he had the plumbing
business.
For is it 40?
, Was it?

Pat (05:11):
40 years?
Yeah, it would be 40 years.

Israel (05:13):
Yeah, and so kind of how did that come about?
He had a.
Did he have a partner in that?

Pat (05:19):
Well, we were married about a year and then he decided he
wanted to open his own company.
So it was a little bit scarybecause we hadn't been married
that long, but we decided he'dgo ahead and take the chance and
he started on his own.
At first it was just WernerPlumbing, and then after a few
years he decided to go intobusiness with his brother-in-law
, so then it became WernerNugent Plumbing and they were

(05:43):
partners for quite a while andthen his partner, tom, decided
to retire, and then Joe broughthis cousin into the company and
then he was his partner, alexKazmerzak.
So he's kind of who's runningthe company today?

Israel (05:57):
now, and tell me where was Mayor Joe born?

Pat (06:02):
He was born in Evergreen Park.
They lived in Longwood.
They lived in Longwood andBeverly for quite a while and
they had, I guess, one of thosebig houses in Beverly and they
had a lot of good memories there.

Israel (06:16):
Did he have a big family ?

Pat (06:18):
He has two sisters and a brother and his mom's side of
the family is pretty big, sothere was a lot of people on her
side of the family is prettybig.
So there was a lot of people onher side of the family that
they used to get together for alot of parties and things like
that, and then they were thereuntil I think he was about 15
and then they moved to Palos.
And then he lived there withthem for a little while, until
he went on his own.

Israel (06:37):
Any memories that you remember of him in Chicago?

Pat (06:42):
I know him and his friends used to go out.
Well, I guess they used to comeout this way before like all
the streets were out here.
They used to go on Will CookRoad, I guess, when it was like
didn't go anywhere and they'dbring their cars and run, you
know, in the snow and kind ofyou know drive around and
everything.
So he said they used to have alot of fun coming out this way
back then because nothing wasreally going on, you know the
streets and everything.

Israel (07:03):
So but yeah, Wow, so you guys meet.
You're young still.
How long are you dating?
What's?

Pat (07:13):
that time, like so we met in 81 and we got married in 83.
And then we lived in Oak Forestfor 10 years until we decided
to move out this way.
And I guess just we heardschools were really good out
here and everything.
So we decided to come out morethis way and Amanda was pretty

(07:35):
little she was four when wemoved out here.
But we moved on the block andthe people that were here were
so friendly and we made friendsright away and it was just like
a great block to move on to.

Israel (07:46):
And this is the house you moved into.

Pat (07:48):
Yes.

Israel (07:49):
What do you remember, Amanda?
What was that like?

Speaker 2 (07:52):
I loved growing up here.
When we first moved in here Idon't remember it explicitly,
but I do remember it was likethe first night and there was
nothing in the house and we hadlike all these little plastic
chairs and these little kidscame over and all of a sudden it
was like the birth of all thesevery long-lasting friendships.

Israel (08:10):
What was this neighborhood like?
Were there a lot of kids here?
Did you make a lot of friends?

Speaker 2 (08:15):
Yeah, so some of my longest-lasting friendships.
There's a house right acrossthe street.
Nicole and I have been friendssince we were four.
We were each other'sbridesmaids.
We work out together every weekand we're best friends.
And then across the street, I'mreally close with them.
So, yeah, there was a lot ofkids and we all were really

(08:35):
close and some moved away.
Some most of them have kind ofstayed but we all have a good
relationship and it's reallynice because all the parents
were close and then all the kidswere close, so we'd have block
parties where the parents werehaving their fun and then the
kids were having their fun inthe fire hydrant and whatever
else.

Pat (08:50):
The fire department would come.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
It was the best childhood, honestly, because we
all had similar ages and I beingan only child, it was really
nice.
I never felt like one, becauseall I had to do was walk outside
and there was 20 kids waitingto play kickball.

Israel (09:04):
So it was great.
That's awesome, you know, funnyenough, we moved here, and my
son it was the weekend before heturned four.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
Oh.

Israel (09:11):
So I think it's kind of he's an only child, oh okay,
similar and one of his bestfriends is a kid that ran down
the street three houses down metthe first day we were there.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, so that's neat.
I think that's pretty cool tohave a similar experience.
Yeah Right, it's truly mylongest lasting friend.
I have a friend, adam, wholives on that block.
They're literally like a coregroup of my best friends and
we're still that close today.
It's very nice.

Israel (09:38):
Very cool, yeah.
So how long were you in townbefore Joe got involved in
politics?

Pat (09:45):
Well, so we moved into 94.
And when we moved in, we werekind of under the impression
that our cul-de-sac was going tostay a cul-de-sac.
And within a couple of yearsthat we were here, it came up
that they were thinking aboutputting the street through.

Israel (09:58):
Oh, wow.

Pat (09:59):
Yeah, and so we weren't real thrilled about that.
And so Joe was kind of theperson on the block that kind of
started going to the meetingsand finding out more information
about what was going to happen,and so he just kept going to
the meetings and everything andwe decided we really didn't want
the neighbors and everything todecide, we didn't really want
the street to go through, and soit ended up where he worked

(10:22):
with the board and everythingand it ended up where the street
didn't go through.
They just put in like an accessroad down there, so fire
department or vehicles that theyhave to go through, because
that's I guess the main reasonto have a street go through is
that emergency vehicles can getthrough.
There is still a way to,because they made that little
road instead so they could getthrough if they needed to.

Israel (10:43):
So him going there, so he's responsible for the little
pathway there.

Pat (10:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah so him going and talking to the village
and getting to know them.
And yeah, he just kind of gotan interest in the government
thing and within a few years hedecided to run for trustee.
And then he got in when he ranand then after that he took a
little break and then he ran formayor a few years after that

(11:08):
and he got in as mayor and heserved two terms.

Israel (11:11):
So he didn't go from mayor or from trustee to mayor.
There was a couple years inbetween.

Pat (11:16):
Yeah, there was a little break, yeah.

Israel (11:18):
So what was that like for you?
You know as a wife now,especially small town, there's a
lot.
It gets a little intense.

Pat (11:27):
Yeah, it's a little bit of getting used to.
Like I said, I'm more like onthe quieter shyer side.
So, but it was a goodexperience and I went to a lot
of the events with him andthings like that and got to know
a lot of people in thecommunity.
So that was really nice and itwas really good.
He enjoyed it so much it was,he had so much passion for doing
it.
That just made me feel likethis is his calling and I, you

(11:49):
know, supported him doing that.

Israel (11:51):
Yeah, yeah.
And Amanda, how about you Liketalk?
A little bit about what, whatthat public life meant to you.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
I enjoyed it.
I think I was scared to get introuble.
Mayor's daughter wanted to beon her best behavior.
But yeah, I mean it's funny.
I look back and I remember someof the, you know, really fun
memories.
One of the election nights thishouse was full of people and it
was so loud and, like all thelittle kids were on this island,
we're all like waiting that'son the TV and all of a sudden it

(12:21):
was.
Was it when he won, mayor?
yeah, he won, and this wholehouse erupted and it was just
like it was like past my bedtime, like it was so much fun.
It was crazy and it was.
I really enjoyed it because Ithink it was really fun.
We always had people over.
I think there was hard timestoo because he had, you know,
the meetings a lot in hisfull-time job, so it it was
stressful for him at times, buthe did a good job balancing all

(12:43):
of it and still being a good dad, a good husband.
You know he did all of it.
He was really a talented person.

Israel (12:48):
Do you remember seeing as a, as a kid, like the stress,
or seeing what kind of theeffect on him?

Speaker 2 (12:54):
No, not really, Not until he got older, Did he kind
of voice how you know stressfulit was to kind of have all those
things, but I never really sawit as much.
Um, on Monday nights he hadboard meetings so sometimes I'd
go and do my homework at thevillage hall and wait for him
and that was kind of the onlyextent I really remembered of

(13:14):
kind of him being stressed outby it.

Pat (13:17):
I mean, there were a lot of times he'd have a lot of stuff
in one week where he wouldn't behome a lot during the week
because he'd have, like, a boardmeeting and then he'd have
other commitments that he'd haveto go to.
So he felt a little bit guiltyabout that, because he said he
wouldn't be home, like you know.
Sure it was just kind of mewatching.

Israel (13:32):
Well, and how old would you have been at?
So when he first, you know, ranfor trustee and then mayor,
like what was?

Pat (13:38):
your age.
So, let's see, you wereprobably about 10 or 12.
Yeah, I think like 10 or 12.
I think he was still mayor whenI was in high school.

Speaker 2 (13:45):
Yeah, when I was like 16, I think was the end of yeah
because he was a mayor from 05to 13.

Pat (13:50):
Yeah, so I graduated in 2018.
Yeah, so.
Yeah Kind of the beginning ofteenage I guess yeah, yeah, yeah
.

Speaker 2 (14:09):
So it was always like anywhere we went.
Oh, mayor joe blah blah blahand be an hour at, etc.
Because 40 people saw him.
So, uh, yeah, he was veryapproachable he loved talking to
people, yeah, yeah.

Pat (14:22):
So he would never like not talk and conversations would get
kind of long and everything.
You're trying to pull him out.
I'd be like I'm walking home.

Israel (14:30):
I'm not waiting, et cetera.
It was always at restaurants.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
He would see all these people, but they always
had such nice things to say tohim and they always couldn't
wait to see him and hug him andI mean he really was just just.

Pat (14:42):
Yeah, I think that's why people like him so much is
because he was just soapproachable and just friendly
and, you know, everyone justloved him.
Yeah, wow, yeah, that'sinteresting.

Israel (14:51):
Yeah, um, so tell me about did uh, when, during he
was met, when he was mayor inthose times, was he involved?
Was he able to be involved inother things, like civically,
like any, any organizations orgroups or any kind of causes
that he got involved in?

Pat (15:08):
Well, he eventually started getting more involved with the
veterans things because, evenlike when he was mayor, he would
have a Fourth of July breakfast, usually in the parking lot
over at Etc, and a lot of theveterans would come to that.

Israel (15:23):
What was that like?
What would he do for breakfastthere?

Pat (15:26):
It would be early in the morning before the parade, so
all the veterans were invited tocome to that if they wanted to,
and then a lot of themotorcycle groups would come too
, because there's a lot ofveterans that are in the
motorcycle groups and all thefood would be outside and eggs
and pancakes and all this stuffand it was free to them.
They could just come and havebreakfast before the parade and

(15:46):
he really enjoyed doing that andEtcetera was really great
because they'd always help withthe food and everything.
So that was always like thekickoff to the Fourth of July.
Fourth of July was like a bigday for him Between that and the
parade and then eventually,when he got more into the
military vehicles, then he had alot of the military vehicles in
the parade that were part ofthe Veterans Garage which he
started, that nonprofit.

(16:07):
And his birthday is July 6th,so he really enjoyed that week
of July.
Good reason to celebrate.

Israel (16:16):
Wow, that's cool.
And the Veterans Garage kind oftalk a little bit about how
that came about.

Pat (16:25):
That kind of came about.
He had a friend lived in Mokenawho found out about that.
It was easy to kind of buythese military vehicles that I
think the government was sellingor something.
And he bought one and Joe sawit and kind of fell in love with
it, the whole idea of it.
So he bought a couple of themand then more guys found out
about it and they just kind ofstarted hanging around together

(16:46):
and then Joe came up with theidea of having the veterans'
garage where veterans could comeand work on the vehicles.
Plus the vehicles could be inshape for going in these parades
and everything.
Oh, wow or going to welcomehomes when the soldiers would
come home from things like that,or a funeral, or things like
that too.

Speaker 2 (17:05):
He did Aaron Toppin's funeral right.

Pat (17:07):
Yes, yeah, oh cool, wow, right, and there's a physical
garage there, then there is,it's in Posen it's 11,000 square
feet, wow yeah.
Wow, but right now it's in themiddle kind of being changed, um
, because they decided to moveit to a different location.
It's going to be at the uhmantino veterans home oh really

(17:29):
yeah they're in the process ofmoving things over there.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
So it's where joe warner military museum.

Israel (17:36):
Really, yeah, yeah, that is awesome yeah and what's the
time frame on that in the next?

Pat (17:41):
couple months.
The next couple months yeahit's kind of in the process of
packing things up and anddifferent things like that, so,
but in the next couple monthsthere should be, it should be
heading over there.

Israel (17:51):
I hope to hear more about that.

Pat (17:52):
It'd be neat to check that out because they did have like a
museum and everything thatpeople had been going to um they
had a bunch of different roomswith setups of, of um, a lot of
different things.
But since then since now thatthey're moving everything's kind
of closed down.
But they hope to restart thatagain when they move it out
there.

Israel (18:08):
Well, I remember we'd always see the truck out front,
you know.

Pat (18:11):
Yeah, yeah.

Israel (18:14):
I'm sorry, amanda.
What were you going to say?

Speaker 2 (18:15):
Oh, I was just going to say.
His cousins have really steppedup and are trying to keep his
vision alive and it's a reallybig deal to them to kind of
bring it to Manteno and kind ofkeep it going, especially for
the veterans.
And the actual veterans wholive in the home they've said
are like waiting, like can'twait to be the tour guides and,

(18:37):
you know, just can't wait toshow like their things and be a
part of it, and so it's reallynice that it's going to go from,
you know, blue Island to Pozen.
And even, you know, after hepassed away, one of the veterans
said to us without my dad Iwouldn't be alive.
Like, without Joe I wouldn't behere today, because he gave
them this place to come and workon things when they lost, you

(18:58):
know, when they had seen so muchin serving and or, you know so
when they came back they now hadthis place to go.
So it's really special thatit's going to continue for those
people.

Israel (19:09):
Yeah.

Pat (19:09):
Yeah, and the core group of guys that were there from the
beginning are still involved andhelping with the move and
everything and still going to beinvolved in when, when it moves
out there too, yeah.

Israel (19:18):
Oh, that's really great to hear.
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome uh,how about?
Who are some of his bestfriends?

Pat (19:27):
well, his cousin, the one who he's partners with with the
plumbing company.
Um, they've been close for along time.
Um, he did have friends that hemade being in the village, um,
some of the trustees.
He was still really close withOne of the guys that's a trustee
now, terry Germany.
They were friends for a reallylong time.

(19:49):
He's got friends that he's beenfriends with since he was
little that he still keeps intouch with and everything.
But yeah, so he was friends inall different groups.
Yeah, but yeah, so he wasfriends in all different groups.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Israel (20:02):
How about anybody any mentors, anybody that really
kind of helped him out withmaybe learning about when he was
running for village offices oranything like that?

Pat (20:13):
I think him just going to the meetings and everything and
the different trustees, and themayor at the time was Mayor
Gruchowski.
I think he was very welcomingto Joe and I think he kind of
took him under his wing a littlebit and, you know, kind of
talked with him about things.
So I think just a combinationof the trustees and the

(20:34):
different friendships.
There was a gentleman thatChuck Manhart.
He was really close with himand he was was an older
gentleman that was really niceand I know that their friendship
was really special.
So he had some friendships likethat throughout the village
that were really special likethat.

Israel (20:53):
How about was there anything of his that you'd say
he considered a prizedpossession?

Speaker 3 (20:59):
Me.

Israel (21:01):
Good answer from the daughter.

Pat (21:02):
Mostly me, if someone talked to him that's probably
what he'd talk about and hisgranddaughter.
I went down the totem pole whenDelilah came, he was so crazy
about.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Delilah.

Israel (21:16):
Well, amanda, let's talk about you a little bit.
Okay, we talked about youryouth, but maybe talk about you
a little bit.
Okay, we talked about you.
You know your, your youth, butmaybe you know what was.
Uh, maybe thoughts about schoolas a young person, or um, and
then um.

Speaker 2 (21:32):
So, growing up with him, um, he was always super
supportive because I wanted tomove to the city.
I knew I wanted to um movedowntown, and he was so
supportive of that and Iactually went to Joliet Junior
College for childcare and I wasgoing to go on to be a teacher,
but I had an idea to become ananny downtown instead, and so

(21:54):
he supported that and heactually helped me get my first
job outside of Little Blossom,which is in Mokena.
I worked there for three yearsas a daycare teacher, but then
I'm like well, I got to get ajob in the city, though I got to
make my way down there, and sohe helped get me a job with what
is now called Boca Group.
They have the restaurants likeGirl on the Goat and all of that

(22:17):
.
He did the plumbing forPerennial, which was one of
their first restaurants.
So my first job was a hostess atLandmark, which is now closed,
but it was the greatest job.
I wouldn't have got it withoutmy dad, and so it opened up all
these doors for me and he was sosupportive, coming down and
visiting me for dinner there andtelling everyone oh, my

(22:38):
daughter works here and all that.
So, and then I continued to beand I ended up becoming an
executive nanny for a decade, soI ended up doing that full time
and he was always so excitedabout who I was going to
interview with or what family orkind of all these things.
So yeah, what?

Israel (22:59):
any special memories?
You think?
Just the two of you or thingsthat were special?

Speaker 2 (23:05):
to you.
I love doing everything withhim.
Oh yeah, so when we, when I was16, him and I went on a
European getaway, and we went toSwitzerland, france, uh, italy.
We started in New York.
The three of us went to NewYork with a girlfriend and then
my mom and the girlfriend flewhome and me and my dad went on
to Europe and we loved it and wehad the best time.

(23:27):
But it was the first time, likeas a 16 year old girl, I'm away
with my dad.
He's like, wow, you're such ateenager.

Speaker 7 (23:33):
You're so annoying.
I'm like where's my phone, Like, oh, he's like very annoying,
you lost your phone.
Yeah, I lost my phone.
He's like what?

Speaker 2 (23:41):
And you know you're like 16.
You're like my friends, theyneed me.
He's like they don't You'refine.
So it was just funny for us tobe in that kind of scenario
together.
But he was so good at being hehad and we talk about this all
the time he was the mostcomforting person you've ever
met.
Like or you don't feel good, hecould say anything Like I
couldn't even think of all thesayings he has, but you feel

(24:02):
better instantly.
So on this trip I wasn't likefeeling good.
I lost my phone, blah, blah,blah, being a little teenager,
and he just was like that's fine, like let's go do this.
Like he could just, you know,turn it around right away.
So we had a great time and wealways talked about going back
and it was a goal.
And even last year me and myhusband really wanted to make it
work, but as he got more sickwe got too scared to bring him

(24:25):
that far.

Pat (24:25):
But he wanted to go to Normandy.
Oh yeah, All the time He'd belike let's book it, let's book
it, and so.

Speaker 2 (24:30):
So I have a lot of my dad's personality where we were
just very out like let's do it.

Speaker 7 (24:36):
Very spontaneous.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
My dad and I, if it was spontaneous, it was the best
possible option.
So we would say, let's justforce mom Put her in the suit.
Like she'll be fine.

Pat (24:45):
Even last year.
We're like we're doing it,where I think about things.
I have to have everything acertain way, yeah, and my dad's
like let's just do it.

Speaker 2 (24:53):
And I'm like don't tempt me, I'm going to book a
flight and actually getting youknow diagnosed.
We went through all of thosethings when I was little.
How old when you guys took meto Disney Three.
Three.
So we're dancing and there's avideo of me and I have like
curly hair like this, just likemy daughter does now, and I'm

(25:15):
sitting on my dad's shouldersand he has no hair, but he had
hair on the side, so I'm likecombing his hair, listening to
beauty and the beast, like justthe little sides, and I'm like
on his shoulders and I'm sohappy.
And so at our wedding, our firstdance was him and I watching
that on a big screen, dancingtogether.
And so when he got sick he hadwaited his whole life to be a

(25:36):
grandpa, I mean, he was soexcited.
And so he got sick only a yearinto us having Delilah, and I
thought of all the times he saidI want to go to Disney.
Like I just knew that wassomething he was going to be so
excited to do with our daughter.
And so when he got sick, afterhe finished chemo and radiation,
we gave him a piece of paperand it said we're so proud of

(25:58):
you.
Now pack your bags, we're goingto disney and I booked us a
flight and a trip.

Pat (26:03):
Picture up there and yeah there's a picture up there.

Speaker 2 (26:05):
We booked this like big trip.

Israel (26:07):
Um yeah, oh, wow, that's awesome.
What a great memory yeah sothat was really nice.

Speaker 2 (26:16):
he was not feeling.
Oh yeah, he wasn't feeling ahundred percent, but he was
never.
He was the guy that if youasked him, even on his worst
days, how he felt, I'm good, I'mgood, never complained, never
complained.
And on this trip he's likelet's buy this house.
I'm like I'll buy it.
Let's do it, dad, because wewere at an Airbnb and then we
got back and even up until hegot the most sick, let's just go
back, bring me to Florida,bring me to Normandy, like he

(26:39):
just that was.
So my favorite memories arewhen I felt like the closest to
him was kind of how we were thesame, like let's just go do this
, let's just go do that, like weloved that together.

Pat (26:50):
So yeah, that was probably all my favorite memories Little
firecrackers, those two If wewere together in like a doctor
appointment.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
She was like please let me out of the room Because
we would just be like jokingwith the doctors and like I'm
just so he's so chatty and he'llgo on for hours with the
doctors and so, yeah, he wasjust really good at making
everything fun.

Israel (27:12):
Well, even in the darkest times he was the most
fun, so so, back to kind of youryouth a little bit and you know
we talked about how kind of itwas as mayor or with a mayor as
dad, as your dad, so.
But you graduated and we talkeda little before, but you moved

(27:34):
out of Mokena when Probablyabout 2009.

Speaker 2 (27:37):
I was only 20.
So I left here when I was 20because I worked at the Little
the little blossom for threeyears like co-op in high school
and then I went down um and Igot my first uh, executive nanny
job yeah, Around 20.
So, yeah, and then I liveddowntown for 10 years before my
husband and I came back.
So, but we loved it.
My dad loved coming downtown.

(27:58):
He loved the apartments wewould get, he would, we did
dinners all the time there werefour or five different places
that you lived over down there.

Pat (28:03):
Yeah, over the course of the so we got to know all the
parts of the city because shewas like moving around, yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
I started in the Gold Coast and I went to River West,
then we went to Lincoln Parkwhere we live in our longest
apartment for like six and ahalf years.
In that apartment and my dadloved coming there and we
adopted cats together down there.
I mean, we did and we ended upgetting a dog down there and, um
, yeah, he was just always superexcited for everything and even

(28:28):
though he didn't it's funny, mymom was so scared for me to
move downtown and he was too,but he got it because he always
kind of liked the city too andyou know, warner Nugent does a
lot of commercial plumbing inthe city, so he was always
really well versed of like kindof areas and restaurants and he
was just, yeah, he was reallycool and I always thought he was
so cool that he like knew Boca,like that he got me this job.

Speaker 7 (28:49):
I'm like well, only Joe Warner does their commercial
plumbing.

Speaker 2 (28:51):
So I like to name drop him and then, and you know
him being mayor and everything.
So yeah, that was always reallycool.

Israel (28:58):
So you left the city.
When was that?

Speaker 2 (29:01):
We moved out here in 2020.
And then we got pregnant withour daughter, delilah, and he
helped you so much with yourhouse, yeah, so we actually
bought a fixer upper.
So it was the start of COVID,and we found this like very 1975
, outdated in Homer Glen.

(29:23):
And you know, this was thestart of COVID.
So all of a sudden, you'relocked down and every week we'd
be like on Zoom, virtuallyshifting this house with my dad
and he was just so creative,just the way he designed it.
We ended up gutting it.
We completely gutted this houseand he helped bring this design
to life in like five months.

(29:43):
And it was like one of thegreatest joys was like once we
signed, like we walked in thislike blank canvas, and he'd be
like, well, let's look at ourdesign.
We'd look at these like digitaldesigns we had.
And he designed our moldinglike he wanted it to be like old
Chicago.
So, oh, this is actually themolding.
He then liked it so much.
He did it to be like oldChicago.
So, oh, this is actually themolding.

(30:03):
He then liked it so much he didit in his house.
Um, so, yeah, he was superhands-on with designing our
house and then renovating it,the projects he helped like the
fireplace yeah.
We had so much fun.
I have a.
Really, you know, I reallyliked design and so does he.
So we would just go back andforth.
I'd call him 48 times a day,like, do you like this black
fireplace?
And I don't know, try it.
And then I tried and he'd loveit.

(30:24):
So the fireplace we broughthome from Chicago, yeah, and
then one this is why he was soexciting to be around too is
because a normal person wouldn'tdo what some of the things Joe
Warner would do.
But I called him.
I'm like dad, I'm at salvageone in river West and there is

(30:45):
this like seven foot mantle itis probably taller, nine feet
and I'm like, well, I'm going tothink about it.
So we come back with dad and hebrings a trailer, an open bed
trailer, not even like a normalone, like the worst thing you've
ever.
He pulls up.
I'm like you're not serious.

Israel (30:59):
Like it's just an open thing on wheels.

Speaker 3 (31:01):
And it's about to rain, and it's about to start
raining and I'm like no way.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
So we go in and we show it to him and he's like I
love it.
I mean it's so tall.
And the guy's like I've hadthis here for a year, take it
$200.
And I're like this is not goingto make it home.

(31:28):
All of a sudden the dark cloudscome in.
My dad's like well, let's getout of here.
And we're like no, this isscary.
So we ended up riding behindthem and he goes under an
underpass and water just startslike like we think it's going to
just.
I can just see the joy in mydad's face, though in the car
like this is so adventurous.

Pat (31:47):
Yeah, and us behind him like freaking out yeah, cause
the water's almost about to justconsume.

Speaker 2 (31:52):
I mean, it was like flooded, it was a terrible storm
and it made it home and it isnow like one of the greatest
joys of our house.
Him and my husband spent like40 hours on renovating this
mantle.

Pat (32:04):
We put, like Carrara, marble at the bottom and a new
mirror they had like five layersof paint they had to take off
all these layers of paint, butonly my dad could figure that
out.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Like how.
Like he would.
Just, he knew everything.
Somehow he knew everything.
Did it always make sense?
No, were you going to pee yourpants because it looked like
that trailer was going to falloff?
Yes, but he always succeeded ateverything.

Speaker 7 (32:23):
He was just so innovative.

Speaker 2 (32:26):
He could think of everything Like if I had a
problem, although my husbandwould appreciate if I asked him
first.

Speaker 7 (32:31):
I was like wait, Joe said this though, so he just
yeah, he knew everything.

Pat (32:35):
I think he got that from his dad.
They just were able to figureout whatever, anything Even at
his wake.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
half of the comments were he was the smartest guy I
knew, or not even half.
Almost every single person thatapproached us.
I couldn't believe how manypeople commented on his
intelligence, his wit, hiscreativity and helpfulness.

Pat (32:54):
He helped a lot of people that you know.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
He wouldn't come home and tell me that he helped
so-and-so but all these peoplecame up and said how wonderful
it was that he would help themwhenever they needed.
There was one story of someonewho walked up and she said that
her son like got declined fromlike a college and needed some
sort of like essay or referral,and that my dad did it and he
now, like just graduated fromlike his dream college and so

(33:17):
like but we'd never heard thatLike there were so many people
that he just helped and he didthese things for and he was the
best problem solver.
So I do think it's been reallyhard for all of us.
On the other side of this.
It's like who do you call now?
Because Joe had that reallystrong intellect for everything,
right?

Israel (33:36):
Yeah Well, talk a little bit about your daughter, your
granddaughter.

Speaker 2 (33:41):
Delilah Rose.

Israel (33:42):
She's how old?

Speaker 2 (33:43):
She's two and a half.
She loves Grandpa and Grandma,she loves princesses and Disney
and everything pretty much.
But yeah, my dad, they had avery strong connection and even
as he got sick that last week ittook his speech away you know
the brain cancer and somehow onthat last night he was able to

(34:06):
say I love you to her and thatwas the last thing he said.
And so she has a very strongconnection to him and we try
very hard to keep his presencealive because he's been sending
a lot of signs and stuff.
But our daughter will say, likeyou know well, grandpa told me
this and like she'll still kindof story tell about him and

(34:27):
stuff.
But she's really fun and she'sa little blonde with big curly
hair like me and my husband'ssix foot five, brown hair, brown
eyes and she's a little babyblonde.

Israel (34:36):
So yeah, so tell me what , if you can think of it.
Yeah, what are?
What are the stories?
Do you think, as your daughtergets older, that you'll tell
about your dad?

Speaker 2 (34:48):
I'll definitely tell her about Disney, which she has
a really strong memory, so sherecalls a lot of things on her
own, but I would say that, andalso the way he tried to play
with her.
It's funny we have a new year'seve.
He was, he, always like hedidn't even know how good he was
as a grandpa.
He'd be like, oh, I'm not thatgreat with little kids.

(35:08):
We'd be like, yes, you are solast, or two, however many new
year's eves ago.
What two, two, yeah, um, wedecided to come here and spend
the night so that we could bewith them for new year's and we
had like a balloon drop and hepopped the balloons and then our
daughter would be like dance.
And he'd be like, okay, I'msitting, though I don't really

(35:28):
want to and she'd be like dance,grandpa.
And so we have this video wherehe's sitting and he's like
avoiding eye contact becausehe's like Delilah, just dance.
And then, all of a sudden, wehave a photo and he's on his
knees on the ground and he'slike hysterically laughing, and
then she's just like runningaround like dance, grandpa,
dance.
And so that was a really goodmemory.

Israel (35:48):
yeah, I'm trying to think what similarities do you
see in your granddaughter withhow she interacted uh with uh?
Is amanda, any similaritiesthere?

Pat (35:59):
um, I think because your personalities are kind of the
same, you and Delilah yeah,they're very always want to be
doing something, always want tobe helping, strong-willed yeah.
She's very social, yeah, verysocial.
So yeah, kind of like the sameconnection and, like you said,
she reminds us a lot of my dad.

Speaker 3 (36:21):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (36:21):
Like we've mentioned, we see these characteristics,
like she can solve all thesethings, and even my husband will
say, like God, she reminds meso much of your dad.
Just her ability to problemsolve something that we may have
not explained to her justreminds me of his ability to do
the same.
Or just the way that she'lllike light up a room and,
instead of like shy and nervous,she'll be like hi, what's your

(36:42):
name?
I'm delilah.
I'm two and a half.
Like it's that same.
It's like a baby bear.
I'm like how did I produce alittle baby, joe?
confidence and super confident,super like, just magnetic like
him.

Israel (36:55):
Yeah, very similar yeah I wanted to talk a little bit
more about his time as mayor.
I was looking up some articlesand I found something from 2005
about the first term, and itsaid that this is from the
Tribune, and they said thatMokena was experiencing an

(37:15):
identity crisis because of itsgrowth.
Because of its growth, andsomething that Mayor Joe said,
or they said about Mayor Joe, isthat he led the way from
contention to cooperation andthere's kind of a lot of that
repeated and you know, peopletalk about his kind of ability
to get things done, to work withpeople.

(37:37):
Yeah, how about did you seethat true?
Or how tell me more about that?

Pat (37:43):
Yeah, I think that there was like contention going on and
he was able to talk with people, get them to look things, look
at things a different way, orjust get people to come together
.
Because that was the main thingis, he was really into
community and he really wantedthere to be more things in the
community to do, for theresidents to do and stuff like
that.
So I think that, um, I think itwas just his way about him.

(38:06):
He was able to get people tocome together that maybe might
not have before.

Israel (38:11):
Yeah, and just work things out wow, that's a I mean
an amazing skill to have andespecially in somebody that's in
office.

Pat (38:18):
I mean yeah very important.

Israel (38:21):
There was a quote too by John Downs, a village
administrator, at the time.
It said, werner's success isuniting people with different
viewpoints, and his commitmentto fiscal responsibility were
his great contributions.
So just I thought, a great quoteby, obviously, somebody that
spent a lot of timeprofessionally with them and

(38:42):
knew the way he worked right andI'll say I I think I told you
before I never got the chance tomeet mayor joe um, you know we
hadn't been here a terribleamount of time.
My one, I mean the interactionof the time, I know, is we talk
about the veterans garage whenthey dedicated the gun at the
pioneer cemetery right uh was, Ithink shortly after we were

(39:04):
here and I um such a greatmember.
I remember walking over thereand the parking lot at the metro
was full of those vehicles.
You talked about all therestored military vehicles and
just the whole experience withthe men in uniform and the
presentation and the gun andeverything was such a neat

(39:24):
experience and such a greatthing for the town and the
community.
Anything you'd say about thatprocess, like what you remember
about that all coming together.

Pat (39:35):
Well, like I said, I know he was really into the community
.
He loved like there was a chilicook-off that he used to do at
the VFW.
He did that a few years because, he loved having all the people
come for that.
I'm trying to think what elsewe did.
He was really into cleanup day.

Speaker 2 (39:51):
That was already started when we moved here.

Pat (39:52):
But he really wanted to keep that going and stuff
because he thought that wasreally important.
As far as like because I made afew notes myself about the
businesses and stuff I know itwas really important to him to
bring meaningful businesses totown for the infrastructure.
So instead of relying on incomefrom permits and things like

(40:15):
that, he wanted the industrialand commercial to bring revenue
so they weren't dependent onother things and like the 191st
corridor, it's a combination ofcommercial and warehouse things
but it's still bringing inrevenue.
So that helped a lot.
And then, like even in 2000 um,it must have been like 2007
when the it was kind of like theuh recession hit yeah he.

(40:38):
Uh, they were able to keep thevillage was able to keep things
going and there was no likerepercussions or anything for
the village.
They were able to stay strongand when other communities were
kind of having problems, theyreally.
They got through it, okay, Ithink because of this
infrastructure that they hadwere setting up, that they had
the revenue and everything wow,yeah, um and uh, yeah, I mean

(40:59):
that's.

Israel (41:02):
I talked to again some other people and kind of getting
comments about him and that wasyou know.
One of the ones heard is justhe was responsible for a great
period of growth and importantperiod of growth and change in
in town here.

Pat (41:15):
Yeah.

Israel (41:15):
I and you know you talk about his idea of community and
that and I that, and that's partof what you know.
Our podcast we say is historyand community, because I think
you know, community is soimportant and the idea of
community and not just, um, youknow, living somewhere but being
connected to the place and thepeople you know I think is so

(41:37):
important, right, and it seemsthat that was kind of something
that Mayor Joe lived as well.

Pat (41:43):
Right, and I think he thought out of the box a lot too
, like he wasn't afraid to liketry something different and then
if it worked it was pretty good.
But he wasn't afraid to trythings.
So I think that was a goodthing too.

Israel (42:03):
Can you think of any professional accomplishments,
like as mayor or trustee, thathe saw, as you know, really like
a?

Pat (42:06):
standout, something he was especially proud of.
Um, well, I know he was proudbecause they were working on,
yeah, the playscape when wefirst moved in.
There was another thing that hekind of got involved in right
away, before we even the streetthing happened.
Um, that's where he went metrobin yeah so he would go there
and donate his time andequipment.
You know he had, like thebulldozer and whatever he would

(42:26):
go and whatever they needed helpdoing, he was just there and
he'd like tell me what to do.
I'll do whatever.

Israel (42:31):
We found some cool pictures of him, you know, on
the bulldozer or not bulldozerthe Bobcat it was pretty neat,
so we're going to include thosewhen we do the Playscape.

Pat (42:40):
Yeah, so I know he was really, really proud of that,
and I know that this year, Ithink it's going to come down or
something Yep, yeah.
But he was really, really proudof working on that.

Israel (42:49):
Which was one of the most impressive, coolest
community.
Probably things you can pointto in town here, Right right?

Pat (42:55):
yeah, Because it really stood the test of time.

Israel (42:58):
It's been a long time yeah.

Pat (42:59):
Yeah, I know he was proud of like the Meyers store coming
into town and the JC PendetteHole area right there.
I know he was proud of that,you know.
Finally, you know starting toopen and everything.
So that was one thing that theywere working on.

Israel (43:15):
My wife thanks him for that as well.

Pat (43:17):
Yeah, yeah yeah, yeah, I know he had to work with the
residents on the route 30 andwolf um because some people were
for it and some people wereagainst it but he was able to
bring everything together andkind of get it where was able to
go, you know, go through.

Israel (43:34):
So yeah, yeah, what?
When you look at back at Mokena, when you guys first moved here
, compared to now, what do yousee as the biggest differences?

Pat (43:47):
I guess just the growth that's happened here, Because I
think when we moved here it wasalready starting to grow,
Because before that peopletalked about it being more of a
really small town and everything.
But since then I think morecompanies have come in, but it
still has that hometown feel.
On 4th of July you can't beatgoing uptown or the Christmas
parade.

(44:08):
It still has that homey reallyold-fashioned feel to it.
So it's nice that it has that.
But then you could go onLaGrange and there's all these
regular places, restaurants andthings like that.
But down here in town it'sstill that old-fashioned feel,
which is nice.
And then there are some newrestaurants opening up, like the
Taco Place, zap Taco.
I guess another restaurant'sgoing to open up, so that'll be

(44:30):
nice.

Israel (44:31):
Yeah, we did a YouTube video about it, check it out,
yeah.
I know he was involved a littlebit with the Historical Society
and some of that as well yeah,he was.

Pat (44:43):
He was involved in historical society for a few
years.
Um, he did that for a while andthen he kind of got away from
that, but he wasn't reallyinvolved in that for a while.
Um, it seemed like he kind ofgot into.
He was in the chamber ofcommerce.
He's kind of done a little bitwith all the you know a lot of
organizations Mokena, , so thatwas nice.

Israel (45:02):
Maybe Amanda can answer this first.
Okay.

Speaker 2 (45:10):
But how would you want people to remember your dad
, I think, for how big his heartwas.
I think he truly did so manythings for so many people and he
very rarely did things forhimself.
I think he was just so selflessand kind and generous and he
really lived to kind of servepeople, I mean.

(45:30):
But I just feel like betweenthe Veterans Garage and you know
, there were people at theVeterans Garage who he would
just help.
You know, maybe they couldn'tafford something, but he the
next day the part, would show up.
You know, Um, he's just.
And even you know one of my bestfriends, Adam, who lives on
Fenton court, wrote in thememorial book a story I never
heard about how, um Adam was inthe parade and he lost his

(45:54):
favorite limp biscuit hat like aCardinal hat, Uh, and that, um,
my dad ordered him one and hedidn't even.
You know, like he just wasalways going to do that.
Or even for me, I remember, youknow, the year before he got
sick, I was having car problemsdowntown and he's like, all
right, I'll be down there in 20minutes.
And I'm like, no, it's okay,I'll figure something out.
I was like, don't worry, I gotyou an Uber.
He, just he, was just the mostthoughtful, generous, helpful,

(46:17):
generous helpful person.

Pat (46:20):
Yeah, and his parents were like that too.
I think he got that from.
Especially his mom was a veryhelpful person, so I think a lot
of her rubbed off on yeah, whathe did, yeah well, so how about
you?

Israel (46:30):
what would your answer to uh?

Pat (46:33):
um, I just think he was a very passionate person and when
he was in something he was thathis mind was just focused on
that.
He always tried to do the rightthing, although you can't
always make everyone happy, buthe tried to do the best he could
, and I just think that he puthis whole heart into being mayor

(46:53):
and trustee, and I think itshowed because the night of his
wake.
so many people just said thathow much they appreciated him
and they were going to miss himso much, and it was just
unbelievable to hear all thedifferent stories that we heard
that night.

Speaker 2 (47:09):
And to even piggyback on what you're saying.
We ended up you know we didn'treally know a ton about
glioblastoma before it happened,which was his type of brain
cancer but we ended up throwinga spin event in Burr Ridge and
we raised $15,000 for him and orfor us to donate to
Northwestern Cause.
We knew that they had a lot onlike the back burner or they

(47:31):
were working on a lot of things,and we were really hoping like
something was going to getpushed over.
You know that they could savehim.
And I remember, you know Ididn't know how he was going to
feel about it and I remembercalling him being like I want to
throw this spin event, I wantto raise money, I want to do
something.
I can't just like sit here andlike not try to fight for you.
And I didn't know what he'd say.
And I he goes, um, oh, I lovethat idea, that sounds great.

(47:54):
Like thank you so much.
And then I remember we were soexcited the spin event happened
and the next day on WGN theyannounced a new trial for
glioblastoma and this was wherewe were donating the money.
We got into the appointmentwithin two days and
unfortunately he didn't qualify.
And I remember like looking athim and I said I'm so sorry, and
he goes.

(48:14):
The spin event was never for meand I'm like what?
And he goes.
I wanted to do this for otherpeople so they don't die from
what I'm going to die from.
And that just goes to show whohe was.
In this moment I thought he wasexcited I was doing this for him
and all he was thinking was I'mso glad you're going to try to
raise money.
And on that day that we felt sodefeated, he was just like well

(48:35):
, I'm glad you're going todonate all this.
And another thing he did waswhen my husband and I got
engaged we're just all reallyclose, the four of us and we
talked to him about, you know,like we're going to have a
wedding, blah, blah, blah.
And he goes Okay, well, I wantto help pay for it a little bit,
but why don't you and Andrewwork really hard for, you know,

(48:58):
a year or so, and we'll seewhere you're at at the end of it
?
And so for a year it ended upbeing a year and a half my
husband and I worked like Iworked like six jobs.
We're like trying to save forour dream wedding.
And he would always just hint atthings like you know, do your
best work, work your hardest,and like let's talk about it.
And like he'd say, some thingsare going to have to fall off.
So we would like kind of tweaksome things.

(49:19):
And the week before the weddingwe went to hand him a check and
he's sitting where you'resitting, slid it back and goes.
Now you know what it's like topay for your own wedding, like
he just knew that that was like.
Now you know what every singledollar meant and now I'm going
to treat you to it and give youthis as your nest egg.
And that ended up buying ourhouse.
So, instead of him just payingfor it or, you know, doing all

(49:42):
this, he taught us me.
You know, my husband, I wereally worked so hard that that
day we appreciated every singlething so much because we'd
worked so hard for it.
And now, instead of it justgoing away, that day, it became
our nest egg and we couldn'thave done that without him.
So I mean, that's just truetestaments to who he was.
Sometimes we were a littleannoyed by it, like okay, but at

(50:07):
the end we understood and it'ssomething we want to do for our
daughter too.

Speaker 7 (50:10):
Well, now she'll figure it out, I ruined it.

Speaker 2 (50:13):
But anyways, it's just you know very selfless
person.

Israel (50:18):
So talk a little bit about the cancer.
You found out he was sick, Likehow did that come about?

Pat (50:26):
So it was in the fall of 22 .
And just out of the blue hestarted having some like spasms
on the side of his jaw, and soit happened a couple times.
So we got into theneurologist's office and we
weren't sure what it was from.
We thought maybe it was likesomething from a medicine or

(50:46):
something like a reaction.
They were like no, it's got tobe something more than that.
So he went and had a CT doneand it came back showing that he
had a couple spots on his brainand then from there we had to
go, he had to have a biopsy andthen that was what showed that
he had glioblastoma, which is avery aggressive brain cancer,
grade 4, incurable.

Speaker 3 (51:09):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
Prognosis typically 12 to 14 months, and we found
out we were supposed to find outon December 23rd two years ago
and the doctor ended up notwanting to drive out here.
So we ended up luckily gettingone more Christmas without
knowing, although we had a badfeeling Because he'd had.
You know, the biopsy was likebrain surgery kind of, in a way.

(51:31):
Well, not full blown, but stillwe were nervous about that day
and they had said we see somenecrosis which is like dead
brain tissue.
So we knew, waiting for thebiopsy it might not be great.

Pat (51:46):
And especially if you Google it.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
Plus, you knew someone who a family member had
it and it didn't come out, itdidn't turn out well, and so
then we, you know, we ended upfinding out, like the week of
the first week of January, thatit's grade four and they just
sit you down and say you know,this is, you have like 12 months
, 12 to well.
In the beginning we didn't knowthe timeframe yet.

Pat (52:03):
We were at 14, 18 months.

Speaker 2 (52:05):
We were at university of Chicago for the first six
months, um, where he did chemoand radiation, and then, um, we
switched to Northwestern wherewe were immensely happy with, uh
, that switch.
Um, my dad didn't feel as muchof a person at University of
Chicago with that doctor who'sno longer there.
We needed someone that wasgoing to want to fight for him

(52:28):
and very personable.
So we found Dr Stoop, who welove very much and he was my
dad's ride or die when my dadcouldn't drive anymore.
That took away a lot of hishappiness and Dr Stoop would be
like, well wait, the mayorshouldn't drive himself anyway.

Speaker 7 (52:46):
Where's your shadow?

Speaker 2 (52:47):
He was really good at making and he was older and he
was good at kind of connectingwith my dad and really helping
him.

Pat (52:54):
Plus Northwestern has a lot more.
They have trials, and so weknew that if something came up,
that was the place to be more sobecause they have more
advancement with trials andtreatments and things like that.

Speaker 2 (53:05):
And University of Chicago.
You know you do the radiationand the chemo.
That's like the protocol.
It's called the stoop protocolbecause the guy at Northwestern
that we switched to created that.
So he's like known as like oneof the most influential living
neuro-oncologists in the world,but we didn't know about him at
first.
Obviously, in the beginningyou're just being transferred

(53:26):
from where your doctor wants youto go, which was University of
Chicago, but he once wecompleted like the standard
regimen, that's when you have tostart saying now what?
And the University of Chicagowasn't as open to Avastin, so we
switched over.

Pat (53:44):
Yeah, so Dr.

Speaker 2 (53:45):
Stoop was a super risk, like he was just whatever
risk, I'm going to do it sameway as my dad was.
So it wasn't that the otherdoctor wasn't like good, it just
wasn't the you know, the fightwe needed.
We really wanted to push it tothe end and so once we switched
to Northwestern, that doctor, drStoop, was like let's do a
Vastin, let's do this, let's dothat.
Like what do you want to dohere, I mean.
And he ended up doing fourrounds of a Vastin when he

(54:09):
wouldn't have had any atUniversity of Chicago.
So we were really grateful oncewe got to Northwestern that
there was this big push.

Pat (54:16):
So they did do chemo as well before that, yeah, because
it was never going to cure it.
It was just going to try andkeep it at bay so that he could
still function and everything.
So when it got towards the timeframe, they said that's when
things started getting prettybad and everything, and then
there's not much more they cando for it, because you've kind

(54:39):
of exhausted all there is.

Speaker 2 (54:42):
But he was so resilient in the fact that you
know we went to disney in mayand then in the summertime, I
mean he lost his ability todrive um.
It affected his speech.
He had many seizures.
I mean it took a lot.

Pat (54:53):
He was in a wheelchair.

Speaker 2 (54:54):
He couldn't walk anymore.

Pat (54:55):
Yeah, he couldn't walk it just it's the brain, so it
affects so many different things, and when it's the epicenter of
who you are right.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
So then we started to see personality changes and all
these things and it was like adouble-edged sword You're
watching the smartest person youknow lose the most important
part of him.

Speaker 9 (55:16):
So that was really difficult.

Speaker 2 (55:17):
But he, on a nicer note, he got really sick in
September and we um, we weregoing to have a hibachi dinner
for her birthday the next nightin the yard and I was going to
have all their friends andfamily, and he ended up being
really sick in the hospital andthey said well, if you want to
go home, then we should starthospice because it seems like

(55:38):
you're really sick.
Blah, blah, blah.
So he comes home and it's justlike very overwhelming birthday
night where everyone's likehappy, but is this the last time
they're going to see him.
And then the next few days goby and all of a sudden he starts
acting better, like he's likegot a new pep in his step and
I'm like what we were justsaying goodbye to you, what's
happening?
And then we reached back out tohis doctor and they're like

(56:05):
bring him back in.
So we bring them in and they'relike listen, joe, we don't
think this is the end.
We think, if you want to dothis like we want you to go to
rehab and learn to walk again.
And he, being as brave as he was, said yes.
And so he got accepted intoMarion Joy and he worked for
three weeks to learn how to walkagain and he came home and he
of course everyone.
When we'd show up to Mary andjoy they're like he's my
favorite, we love him oh my GodLike the doctors would praise

(56:28):
him, the nurses, like he was thefavorite everywhere we went and
he learned how to walk againand he came home, um, and then
his brain unfortunatelycontinued to just swell and we
didn't know it until he gothospitalized out here.
And then we rushed him downtownand it was like beginning of
December and we were so shockedbecause he just learned how to
walk.
We thought, okay, we're goingto buy time.

(56:50):
We were right at the 13 monthmark and no one could explain it
.
We were at Northwestern and hisspeech started to shift and
they were like that they weredoing scans and the tumors
looked the same.
But with glioblastoma it canspread microscopically.
That's why you can't get rid ofit, because your brain you
can't just radiate your brainover and over again.

(57:11):
So once it started to cause theswelling, they were like let's
do steroids.
They threw everything theycould at it and it was really
hard, cause it's like December,we're looking out at people out
in the snow and he's like Ican't wait to get home for
Christmas and um, but theycouldn't get the swelling to
stop, um, and so ultimately itlike took it just took away his

(57:33):
I mean speech and everything.
And even the last week theywere like we're not going to
give up.
Dr Soup was like I don't wantto give up yet, like it's not
time, and it literally until 72hours before he died they
weren't willing to stop.
I mean, they believed in him somuch and they kept thinking
this happened the one time it'sgoing to shift and unfortunately
it didn't.
No-transcript.

(58:06):
And then he passed away.

Pat (58:09):
He was away for one day, yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:11):
Within a day, I mean.
They looked at weeks, I meaneveryone.
It was a continuous very-.

Pat (58:17):
I think that's how that cancer is.
It's just so unpredictable.
It nose-dived which wasUnpredictable, yeah.

Speaker 2 (58:22):
It just took a very sharp noise, and then it was
Christmas Eve, but all ourfriends and family were there.
Yeah, but very difficult.
I mean there are no words forwhat we witnessed and what he
went through.
Truly yeah.

Israel (58:38):
Took everything from him and a tough time of year to
connect that to.

Pat (58:40):
Well, it didn't really even feel like Christmas A couple
weeks before.
It was just so hectic goingback and forth to the hospital
and everything.
It didn't even really feel likeChristmas.

Speaker 2 (58:48):
Well, and we were so grateful because we still
couldn't believe what washappening.
Once we got to hospice and welooked at the clock and it said
midnight, Christmas Eve, and I'mlike only Joe Werner would.
So we made a joke of it thatlike of course he's going to
have this like holiday, thatlike the most it was his, one of
his favorites.
But then what's crazy is onChristmas Eve, you know, we

(59:14):
didn't know how long he wasgoing to make it and he was
really struggling.
And we look outside and I'mlike thank God it's not this
like beautiful snow, it's like50.
It's rainy.
It didn't seem like Christmas.
You know my daughter's at homewondering when grandpa's coming
home.
I mean, we were so overwhelmed.
And then, on the day of hisfuneral, my husband looked at
the precipitation.
It's like, oh, there's no, it'snot going to rain.
It snowed the most beautifulsnow I've ever seen, the day of

(59:36):
his funeral, like out of aLifetime movie, like small
little Just enough to make abeautiful backdrop Like the
processional was so long, theylike shut down Mokena for it to
make it so special.
And I'm like here's the snow,kind of like he was giving it to
us with him on that day,instead of the worst day that we
were going through, which wasthe day he died on Christmas Eve

(59:57):
.
So he's still very powerful.
It's very clear he's still avery powerful mayor up there.

Israel (01:00:04):
Yeah Well, I, you know I appreciate you guys have such
great stories and it seems likeso many great memories.
Um, I really appreciate youboth talking to me and sharing
you know some of those and withyou know the community I think
you know share the story for,hopefully, years and years to
come, the people that serve ourcommunity.

Speaker 9 (01:00:28):
It's a thankless job, I'm sure you know more than a
little about that.

Israel (01:00:35):
So we're thankful to him and for both of you.
It's a sacrifice to the familyas well.
But again, thank you guys, bothfor sharing some of the story.

Pat (01:00:49):
Thanks for wanting to hear our stories.

Israel (01:00:51):
Yeah, and so Veterans Garage is still going on.

Pat (01:00:56):
Well, it's in the process of changing.
So I'd say within the nextmonth or two it'll be moving
There'll be a grand opening inthe summer.

Speaker 2 (01:01:04):
We'll announce that once we know kind of what's
going to happen.

Israel (01:01:07):
Well, if you let me know about that, I'll be sure to
share it with the podcast aswell.

Pat (01:01:11):
Yeah, okay.

Israel (01:01:14):
This is Robin Madden, a longtime friend and coworker of
Mayor Joe Warner.
So, Robin, thank you formeeting with me today and
talking to me.
Maybe tell us a little bitabout how you know Joe, how you
knew him.

Speaker 8 (01:01:28):
Okay.
Well, when we were building theplayground, we had a lot of
people.
We needed a lot of people toget involved.
We had a lot of committees, somy husband was heading the
committee for donated materialsand I came home from a different
meeting one night and he saidhey, we have a name for your
park.
And I went what do you mean?

(01:01:48):
You have a name for my park?
And he said we're going to callit Joe Werner Park.
I said who's Joe Werner?
Why are we naming this parkafter him?
And so he pulled out his listof donated materials we were
looking for and he went down thelist Well, joe's donating this
and this and this and this,probably 20 items at least that
Joe Werner was donating.

(01:02:09):
I go okay, I get it.
So then it was probably a monthlater we were at Mokena cleanup
and he goes hey, he points tosomeone.
He goes hey, there's your guy.
And I go what guy?
And he goes that's Joe Werner.
So I ran right over andintroduced myself to him and he
grabbed me in a great big hugand that's how I met him.

Israel (01:02:27):
Wow, and you talk about the park.
You're talking about the parkat MES, the play, the wooden
playscape.

Speaker 8 (01:02:33):
I am Imagination Station.

Israel (01:02:38):
Yes, okay, and which we're going to talk about for
another episode, but interestinghow it all ties together with
him having such a large part.
So you met him through that andand then you've known each
other all these years.
You want to talk about that alittle bit.

Speaker 8 (01:02:54):
We have known each other all those years.
I started out I did a lot ofvolunteer and elected positions
in the village.
I started with well PTA at theschools, but then I was doing
the recording secretary for thevillage.
So I was at all the trusteemeetings and then that went to

(01:03:15):
when Jane McGinn, who was thecurrent village clerk, was
elected to be a trustee.
Then they had to nominatesomeone for village clerk and so
I got that position.
So I worked with Joe asrecording secretary.
Then I worked with Joe asvillage clerk for quite a while

(01:03:36):
and then at one point he said doyou know anybody who's looking
for a job?
I need a new person to run myoffice.
And I go oh, the person I knowwho's best qualified is me.
So he and I sat down anddiscussed it and then I started
working for him and I worked atWerner Nugent Plumbing for 17
years maybe.

Israel (01:03:55):
Wow, wow.
So more than just a casualrelationship.

Speaker 8 (01:04:00):
Oh, absolutely, you knew him pretty well.
Yes, how about in the community?
What kind of?
He was involved in MokenaCleanup, anything in the village
.
You could always find Joe therevolunteering his time to

(01:04:20):
participate.
He, just he was everywhere.

Israel (01:04:28):
And, interestingly enough, dr Cohen provided some
pictures for the playscape andso we had one here that we were
able to find of Joe and I didn'tknow.
But that's really interesting,that that's where you actually
got to know him as well.

Speaker 8 (01:04:37):
Yes, and this picture that you're showing me is Joe
and his Bobcat his company'sBobcat that he brought on site
for us to use and taught me howto drive it, which was fun.
He stood there just like thatand I was behind it trying to
drive it.

Israel (01:04:53):
Oh, wow.

Speaker 8 (01:04:54):
Yeah.
And when we were building theplayground, there was a pipe
that ran between MES and MIS andnobody knew it was there and we
hit it and broke it.
Oh, no, yeah.
So the head custodian came overto me and said we have a

(01:05:15):
problem.
It's probably going to set youback a few days.
We're going to have to get anew pipe and replace it and
everything.
At which point Joe came runningover to me and goes we got it
squared away, Don't worry aboutit.
Someone else who was workinghad a piece of pipe in his
backyard, so they went and gotthe piece, Joe cut it, fit it in
and about 20 minutes later wewere moving on.

Israel (01:05:35):
Wow, what a great story.
Yeah, very interesting.
How long has it been sinceyou've seen Joe?

Speaker 8 (01:05:44):
It's been a while Because right after COVID, I
left Werner Nugent, so probably2020, 2021, somewhere in there.
I left Werner Nugent, I leftMokena.
We moved down to the Peoriaarea to be closer to my son and
our grandkids.

Israel (01:06:04):
Okay, well, anything else you want to add or any
words you want to leave aboutJoe.

Speaker 8 (01:06:11):
Joe's a great guy.
He loved everybody.
He loved Mokena.
He would do anything fo rMokena.

Israel (01:06:19):
Mokina Mayor Frank Fleischer, how are you doing?
Israel?
Hi, I'm good.
Thanks for talking to me thismorning, not a problem, I just
wanted to get your thoughts, anycomments you'd want to share
about former Mayor Joe Werner?

Speaker 10 (01:06:34):
Joe and I were on each end of the political
spectrum, okay, plus, I was noton the board when he was mayor.
I've known Joe for a while, infact we ran together.
For the first time he got onthe board I can't remember how
long ago.
You know, we kind of drifted.
We kind of drifted apart whenhe got on the board.
Joe did a lot of good things.

(01:06:56):
You know.
We had that breakfast for theveterans, you know over at.
I don't know if you know aboutthat, but he had a breakfast for
the veterans on the 4th of July, which was really very nice.
Chester, he did that, you know.
I don't remember, I don't knowhow many years he did it.
And the other thing is that oneof the important things is that
Joe did okay was he came upwith the.

(01:07:21):
Well, he was mayor.
They came up with the idea tostart trying to get sales tax
from our industrial parks.
Okay, because you know theindustrial parks you have a lot
of stuff industrial level one,two and three type of industrial
and you don't get any sales taxfrom that.
So him and the administrator atthe time, you know they sat

(01:07:44):
down and talked along with theboard about trying to create an
incentive for their industrialpark Because you know, the Joe
was in the plumbing business andhe also knew how expensive the
equipment that they bought wasand the sales tax that's
generated on it.
So we started as he started,they put that incentive plan out

(01:08:06):
and we started getting somebusinesses in our industrial
parks that generated a sales tax.
To me that was a big deal forthe village.
That's one thing it did asmayor.
That, as far as I'm concerned,that was very important to this
village.
But that's what we try to donow.
We try to get businesses thatare going to generate sales tax

(01:08:32):
into our industrial parks,because that's all you usually
get out of industrial parks isreal estate tax.

Israel (01:08:39):
Yeah, no, that's hugely important.

Speaker 10 (01:08:41):
We generate sales tax Because, if you look at, you
know out there where Accelerateis yeah, okay.
You know out there whereAccelerate is yeah, okay,
accelerate generates anunbelievable amount of sales and
entertainment tax to thevillage.
Okay, they're out there andyou've got CIT, the trucking

(01:09:03):
outfit out there, sales andservice.
They generate a lot.
Abc Supply brings in a ton ofincome tax for us.
Yeah, he was the mayor whenthey initiated that.
So as far as I'm concerned,that was important, very
important for the village,because it just started
generating a lot of sales tax, alot of revenue.

(01:09:25):
Yeah, and one of those things alot of people don't realize you
know it's not a flashy buildingor you know something like that,
but it's vital to keeping acommunity strong financially
Well that's a good point,because that's what a lot of
people you know we get jumped onevery year here in Moltena,
because we don't have therestaurants and we don't have

(01:09:47):
all this stuff and we're notbringing in sales tax like the
other communities are.
Well, that's a bunch of baloney, because I'll tell you what ABC
Supply.
I'll take one of those to 10McDonald's.

Israel (01:10:01):
And you both ran against each other, and then that's
when he stepped out.

Speaker 10 (01:10:09):
In 2013 is when he decided not to run.
You know, I don't know whatthat reason was for.
Nobody ever knew.

Israel (01:10:17):
Maybe talk a little bit about the transition and what he
left the village.
You know, was it a goodtransition.
You feel like we're in a goodplace, as you stepping into
mayor.

Speaker 10 (01:10:28):
I mean, one thing about the village over here is
Israel, and this is what peoplehave got to understand this
village has always been veryfrugal, not cheap, since I've
been involved with them, since Iwas Sowing and Planning
Commissioner in 1985, gotelected in 1987.

(01:10:50):
In 1985, got elected in 1987.
And at that time Mike Everettwas the mayor and Ron Gretowski
came afterwards.
And since Mike was mayor, Imean we've always washed our
pennies and we've well, just togive you an idea, the police

(01:11:11):
department and the updating onour sewer treatment facility
cost $28 million and we had $24million of that to pay for.
We didn't have to raiseanybody's taxes to do that.
But that's from the mayorsbefore me and I just picked up.
You know, I picked up the batonwhen I became mayor and operate

(01:11:33):
the same way.
We just don't spend moneyfrivolously in Latina and Joe
didn't for eight years Again, Ijust remember this when that
police station is at, while Joewas mayor, he had the foresight
and they had the foresight tobuy that piece of property for,
you know, for the futurelocation of the jail.

Israel (01:11:55):
Oh, really, that was done during his time as mayor.

Speaker 10 (01:11:59):
That was during his time.

Israel (01:12:00):
Wow, Well great.
There was a nice connectionback then for him to the new
police station as well.

Speaker 10 (01:12:07):
Yes, because I'll tell you what, if he didn't do
that, if the board didn't dothat at the time, naturally you
had to get concurrence from theboard.
But if that you know, if theydidn't do that back then it
would have took us kind of, howlong to buy a location for that
police station Because wealready had the land.
Yeah, once you have the land,after that you come up with the,

(01:12:29):
the money.
But even more than the money,the land is the most important
thing when you're building,trying to build a building for
the village sure locate, yeah,absolutely and that's a great
location.
It's got the visibility peoplecan see our station right there
we're going to.
Most of our activity isprobably going to be along the
corridor up and down 191ststreet yeah that was a.

(01:12:50):
That was a very important thing.

Israel (01:12:52):
Yeah, definitely a positive step and the biggest,
probably, improvement, uh,governmentally wise.
You know, buildings in thatthat we've had in in how long,
you know, am I correct?
I don't think we have a biggermaybe one of the water treatment
facilities.
You know that police stationwill be a huge addition to the
village.
It will be, and you know I'mpretty proud of that too
treatment facilities.

Speaker 10 (01:13:11):
You know that police station will be a huge addition
to the village.
It will be, and you know I'mpretty proud of that too,
because one of the things that Icame back I've always been a
stickler on aesthetics, alwayswhen I was a trustee and now
that I'm mayor and one of thethings that I really wanted to
do was change the architecturein our buildings, and if you
look at all the buildings nowover the past you know three

(01:13:33):
terms, about 12 years there is adifference in the way the town
is being put together with thebuildings and aesthetically it's
being cleaned up, and that'ssomething that I'm very proud of
when I look at this village now.

Israel (01:13:49):
Craig McCutcheon.

Speaker 7 (01:13:51):
So Lion Israel.
I got to tell you about LionJoe from what I I was very close
with Mayor Joe Warner and he,in my mind, was he actually
saved Mokina.
There was a very, very toughtime in Mokina about probably 15
years ago.
Monday night, at the fights andall the turmoil and everything,

(01:14:14):
and he personally got back intothe arena and he ran for mayor
and he united this whole towninto what we had before and what
we've had since he's been there, which is a lot of peace and a
lot of good running ofgovernment and everything.
And it wasn't banging of heads,it wasn't fighting all the time

(01:14:38):
, it wasn't factions andeverything.
And I put that on Mayor Joe.
He was an absolute phenomenal,phenomenal person to take on
During that time.
It took a strong man, a strongleader, and he did it and I'll
never, ever, ever forget andI'll never, I'll always be

(01:14:59):
grateful for what he did forMokina.

Israel (01:15:03):
Retired Mokina Fire Chief Howard Stevens.

Speaker 9 (01:15:07):
Hey Israel.
I just want to talk realbriefly about the mayors of
Molkina, and Mayor Joe inspecific and, as we know, all
the way back from when Iremember, mayor Tuttle, teske,
everett, shazar, quinn, mayorJoe, mayor Grotowski and then

(01:15:32):
now Mayor Fleischer.
I believe, from my perspective,that all the residents of
Mokena past, present and futurethey have all benefited from all
these mayors forecasting thefuture and doing what's best for
the village of Mokena ingeneral and doing what's best

(01:15:53):
for the village of Mokena ingeneral.
And as well, I want to put ashout out to village
administrator, or retiredvillage administrator, john
Downs.
He was also an integral part inthe entire growth of the
village of Mokena as well.
So just shout out to all theprevious mayors and present
mayor, frank Fleischer andprevious village administrator,

(01:16:16):
john Downs, for doing afantastic job, forecasting the
future for the village of Mokenaand making life better for all
of us.

Israel (01:16:22):
And what was his time?
I'm sorry.
What was his time frame?
When was he villageadministrator?

Speaker 9 (01:16:28):
Oh, that's a good question.
It was quite a long time and Idon't know the exact time frame
he was there as the villageadministrator for— During Mayor

(01:16:48):
Joe, though.
30 years maybe, and I'mprobably wrong but he was there
quite a while.

Israel (01:16:55):
For a village administrator to be in a town
for that long, it's really kindof unheard of and before you
talk about Mayor Warner a littlebit too, can maybe just give a
little brief background.

Speaker 9 (01:17:13):
Chief Howard you retired a couple of years ago.
But you were with the MokenaFire Department for how long?
Oh yeah, so I actually grew upin Mokena.
I've lived in Mokena for over50 years.
I joined the Mokena FireDepartment back in 91, and I

(01:17:37):
retired two years ago about ayear and a half ago, two years
ago.
And the present fire chief, joeSorelli, he actually came on
the same time I did, and so wekind of rose up through the
ranks together and we have seenfrom our perspective at the
firehouse all the positivechanges that have come about

(01:18:00):
from the mayors and villageadministrator.
That really helps all theresidents in the village.
In the village, us being aseparate entity from the village
, they didn't really have a lotof input on our policies and
procedures and things like that.

(01:18:21):
But there were a lot of directmeetings that we had for
important events.
You know, like all the Fourthof July parades as we know, we
have the largest Fourth of Julyparade around and the Toppin

(01:18:45):
Funeral, big events like that,and those are just to name a
couple.
You know, as well as othernatural disasters, tornadoes or
microbursts and flooding andthings like that.
But you know, kudos, from myperspective as a firefighter and
fire chief kudos to the Villageof Mokena, all the previous
mayors and especially VillageAdministrator John Downs, for

(01:19:09):
doing what they did for thebetterment of the community.
Hugely important, I do.
Yep, what's that?

Israel (01:19:16):
So it's hugely important to to a community for positive
growth.

Speaker 9 (01:19:21):
Yeah, 100%, 100% from my perspective.
Mayor Joe, he he did anexcellent job from, from my
opinion, he did an excellent jobof pulling people together and
kind of talking things through.
At the end of the day, you maynot have agreed with the final
outcome or you may have thoughtthat the final outcome should be

(01:19:45):
different, but you also knewthat you had a seat at the table
and you were able to talk aboutwhatever the issue was and
kudos to him for allowing thatto happen between the different
taxing bodies within the village, mokena, to have a seat at the
table, talk about differentissues.

(01:20:06):
Like I said, maybe noteverything would go your way the
way you want it, but at leastyou had a seat at the table.
You know, and I also really didappreciate Mayor Joe with the
Veterans Garage Actually, afriend of mine, which happens to

(01:20:27):
be related to Chief Joe, he hadthis big and I don't even know
what it's called a big Armytruck, whatever, and he was part
of the veterans' garage as welland before you knew it, there
was a whole, as you probablyknow, a whole little army of
these veterans uh garage guys.

(01:20:50):
He did a fantastic job from myperspective of giving, uh
getting those guys that havethose trucks, giving them a
platform to to showcase their,their apparatus and, uh, to get
to get out into the public andto show people what they do and
what they stand for.
I think he did a great job withthat.

Israel (01:21:10):
Yeah, you know, I remember when they did the
dedication of the gun at thecemetery at Pioneer.
Cemetery and we walked overthere and the parking lot the
metro parking lot closest toWolf was just full of all those
cool old Army trucks and Humveesand it was really neat to see.

Speaker 9 (01:21:30):
Yeah, you're right.
Yeah, I actually forgot aboutthat.
But now that you've yeah,you're right, yeah, I actually
forgot about that.
But now that you've mentionedthat, you're right on target,
that was a big event in myopinion.
That was a really cool eventand obviously, as we know, it's
still there today and it'll bethere for a long time to come, I
would imagine.
But, like I said, the biggestthing from my perspective is,

(01:21:53):
you know, the willingness forMayor Joe to just open up the
discussion on any topic with thedifferent taxing bodies, break
down those barriers and kind oftalk through the issues and go
from there.
And you know, it was good, itwas good to have that discussion

(01:22:17):
and it was good to have theopportunity to have that
discussion.
And, at the end of the day, thetaxpayers of Mokena, they're
the ones that benefit from thattype of discussions.

Israel (01:22:32):
Commander Jim Hogan of the William F Martin VFW in
Mokina.

Speaker 5 (01:22:40):
Joe is a patriot.
He is a fine, outstanding,upstanding American citizen.
The M5 anti-tank gun at thecemetery was in terrible
disrepair.
It was really bad and Joelbrought up the idea.
We knocked it around and wemoved forward.

(01:23:04):
We had a couple of fundraisersand he got an excavating crew
because the wheels were sunk inthe ground.
It was terrible.
It was, I don't know, acomplete disrepair and now you
see that proud anti-tank gunsitting on a concrete pad,
looking awesome.

Israel (01:23:24):
And what did that mean, do you think, to the VFW, the
members of the VFW.

Speaker 5 (01:23:31):
It was a big deal.
It's huge.
We have such pride in that andI think on yeah, yeah, you know
what I mean.
Yeah, I think that's how I.
It was wonderful, but it didn'tjust happen overnight.
This took a long time, but itdidn't just happen overnight.
This took a long time and noone paid any heed to this except

(01:23:57):
the other patriotic citizens inMokina, and there's a ton of
them.
I mention that every time Ispeak in the village, I speak in
the village and that is.
I have never lived anywhere inthe United States of America

(01:24:17):
that I'm talking about theMokina that takes care of their
veterans and are so patrioticand I don't mean placate their
veterans, I mean they are trulybehind them US citizens.

Israel (01:24:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:24:31):
It's very humbling.

Israel (01:24:32):
That'sS citizens.
Yeah, it's very humbling.

Speaker 5 (01:24:33):
That's great to hear, yeah, so, anyhow.
So during this, joe and I notthat we were friends, he and his
group had come to the post,we'd break bread and you know,
and.
But over this time, getting toknow him, and it was just

(01:24:56):
awesome and that that kept goingon and on and no matter what
happened, joe always had ourback when we needed help with
the fourth of july or memorialday.
He and the Veterans Garage youknow, because it's just starting
out, it wasn't this powerfulorganization, it was when Joe

(01:25:17):
went to heaven.
You know what I mean.
There's a lot of peopleinvolved now and he was always
there.
And you know, the thing that Imentioned when I was in front of
the village board was that allof us, including you, we hope to

(01:25:39):
leave a positive impact on thisplanet and that's really the
best we can hope for.
And what Joe Werner did is heleft a legacy.

Israel (01:25:55):
Former Mokena Village trustee, Joe Sawinski.
Can you just tell me a littlebit about your time, how you
knew the mayor and any personalthoughts or anything you'd want
to share about him?
Joe?

Amanda (01:26:07):
Warner was a very special man who was a true
public servant.
I remember the first time I metJoe was at a village board
meeting and what reallyimpressed me about Joe on that
particular evening was it was atime when the village was going
through a lot of controversy andhad flooding issues and many

(01:26:32):
things.
So we had many nights that werelate nights where people were
up and they were, um, you know,they were really giving the
board a time to get these things, these problems, fixed.
And joe came up with theproblem over on first court.
Um, that was named first courtso they thought it should have

(01:26:53):
remained a court and not beextended into Barrington Square.
And just his presentation andthe way he approached it made
him you could tell something wasvery special.
He was looking to try and finda solution to the problem and do
it in a really respectfulmanner and that always stood out

(01:27:30):
to me, that you know, hetreated everyone very
respectfully, a true gentlemanwho honestly did what his slogan
always was we're going to dowhat's right for Mokena.
And he kept to that.
And he was very, veryintelligent and was very, very
good at what he did.
Very good at what he did Hiscommitment to the village, I

(01:27:51):
mean from the very beginning,you know, with Imagination
Station and then the MillenniumCelebration and you have to
think back, but Joe wasinstrumental in getting the
historical society going againback when he was a trustee and
he was a chamber president and Ithink a lot of these things are
you don't remember unless youreally think back.

(01:28:15):
But he was involved in so manythings and did so much that he
was very impactful Once he cameout of office.
I think Joe's biggest thing andwhat I always remember, what was
most important to Joe, was hisfamily.

(01:28:36):
It really was.
I mean, he ran a business butbottom line Pat and Amanda,
wherever you know, it was areally controversial time when
Joe was mayor and he didn't likea challenge was like a good
thing for Joe and he didn't lookat anyone.
Someone could be screaming athim and he would turn that

(01:28:57):
around and try and get theminvolved.
Because you know, one thing Ialways remember about Joe is if
he would have different ideas.
But if someone else came upwith an idea, um, that he was
better, he would swing to thatand that takes someone special
to do that.
He was very, very good at whathe did and good at systems and

(01:29:21):
setting things up and layingfoundations for things.
He was a tremendous man, atremendous person, and I'll miss
him dearly.

Israel (01:29:31):
Jim Schlegel, tremendous man, a tremendous person, and
I'll miss him dearly.

Speaker 3 (01:29:33):
Everyone's going to say they're a friend to Joe
because he was a friend toeveryone.
But there's three things I'dlike to point out about my
friend Joe, and that one he wasa leader.
He wasn't a manager, but he's aleader.

(01:29:54):
He always took other people,always wanted to get insight
from the other people around himbefore he made a decision.
He included other people in hisdecision-making process.
The other thing about Joe healways did everything first
class.
He always wanted to make surethat any project undertaken by
the village was going to be afirst-class project, such as
bringing Chicago water intoMokina, which has really highly

(01:30:18):
improved the quality of life foreveryone here in Mokina.
And he also was very interestedin providing opportunities for
other people.
He was very good at trainingand sharing his insight with
other people.
So I'd like to say he was aleader, he was first class.

(01:30:39):
He was always willing to be ateacher and he, for example,
with the Pioneer Cemetery thathas been so much to improve our
downtown area and rebuildingthat artillery piece.
It's a work of art, I mean.
He has brought it back.
It wasn't just a coat job on it, he repaired everything on it.

(01:31:04):
So basically it's almostfunctioning, but it looks
beautiful.
And then by putting the fencearound it, by putting the
history on it and how it wentinto it, it really added a great
deal of dimension and also thejust how we got the village to

(01:31:24):
really pick up our cemetery,because there's a lot of we're
lucky in Okinawa to have thatcemetery and have our veterans.
Very few people have veteransfrom the Revolutionary War and
the War of 1812 buried in theirtown, something that we should
be proud of.
So, from a selfish point of view, I'm planning on doing I'm

(01:31:48):
going to be on an honor flight,uh, come nice come this year and
I was hoping that joe wouldpick me up at the airport in his
jeep and drive me back to themoquina.
Uh, but he'll be with me, uh,when I go, and I'll be thinking
to joe when I go to, uh, um,when I go to the memorial in
washington dc and jim.

Israel (01:32:09):
How did did you and Mayor Joe get to know each other
?

Speaker 3 (01:32:13):
That's an interesting question and I would like to
say that's how Joe got involvedin politics.
When they put First Court in,it was to be a cul-de-sac street
and then when they started toput the second addition to
Barrington Square in, thevillage wanted to put a street

(01:32:35):
through from First Court toBarrington Square and the
village wanted to put a streetthrough from First Court to
Barrington Square, which wasgoing to be a terrible idea.
But Joe led the charge on thatand got us together with myself
and Terry Germany and a bunch ofother people, and we petitioned
the village board not to putthe street through but to put a
walkaway path through, so thatthis path has really become a

(01:32:58):
very nice focal point of ourcommunity.
You would tend to think thatJoe was a Notre Dame graduate.
I mean, he was only a Catholichigh school graduate, but he
spoke slowly and he was verymethodical.
Yeah, I wish I could speak aswell as Joe did, but I think he

(01:33:22):
was an excellent mentor to a lotof us.

Israel (01:33:24):
Mokena Village.
Trustee George Matanias.

Speaker 11 (01:33:28):
I've known Joe.
Actually, him and I both wererunning at the same time in 2005
.
He ran for he was running formayor and I was running for
trustee.
We were kind of opposite teamsat the time and when the
elections were done, I was, Igot, I was able to get in and
obviously he got elected, and Iremember this really well.

(01:33:53):
One of the things that I willnever forget is that Mayor Joe
called me the night of theelection after the results came
in to congratulate me and tellme that he's looking so forward
to working with me.
And even though we were onopposite sides at the time.
That meant a lot to me and youknow we may start an opposite

(01:34:16):
side but after we both got in anoffice and you know I got to
get to know him.
He was a great mayor.
He worked, he communicated withall the trustees.
He lets you give your opinionand, you know, work with you on
things.
He's a great communicator and bydoing that we got closer, we

(01:34:40):
became friends.
Then we ran together next time.
As a person, joe Warner lovedMokino as mayor.
He did so many things for thevillage Some of the things like
the chili cook-off and he didthe community picture that he

(01:35:02):
tried to get everybody that canmake it out down on Front Street
there and take a picture withall the people in Mokina.
I mean he raised money and wentdown there to help communities.
He was a mentor to me.
He helped me out a lot.
He was a great friend and Imiss my friend and I'm going to

(01:35:30):
miss him a lot and the villageof Mokina is going to miss
having somebody like that here.

Israel (01:35:35):
Is there anything, maybe specifically that you would
point to?
That was his biggestsignificant lasting impact on
the village.

Speaker 11 (01:35:45):
Well, he was a big part of bringing meaningful
businesses to Mokina like MyersJCPenney, meaningful businesses
to Mokina.
Like Myers JCPenney, he was abig advocate and he worked his
butt off to make sure that ourvillages physically sound and we

(01:36:06):
do well.
So one thing in particular no,there were so many, there were
so many many Israel that I can'treally sit there and pinpoint
different things.
I can name all the things thathe did, because everything he
did he did it for the good ofthis village and he cared about
his residents and, uh, you know,I I was very um honored to be
his friend all I want to sayIsrael, that I miss Joe Warner.

(01:36:29):
He was my mentor, he was myfriend, um, and uh, I miss him.
You doing this is, uh isamazing.
I'm very grateful that you weredoing this for him.
Uh, a memorial he deserves.
There's so much for what he'sdone for this village and this
community and, uh, I think youdoing this will help a lot to

(01:36:52):
keep his memory alive.

Israel (01:36:55):
Well, that's the hope, and you know, share his story.
He gave a lot of years to thevillage and I'm glad to be able
to share his story and learnmore about him myself.
I hope that you learnedsomething as well about Mayor
Joe Werner.
Please remember to call andleave us your messages with
stories, memories that we canshare here on our podcast.

(01:37:17):
That number is 872-255-9259.
And that'll be on our website,on our Facebook page and
anywhere you can find us.
Make sure to view the YouTubevideo of this episode, which
you'll find some additionalpictures and videos, some really
great stuff on there.
So I want to thank you forlistening and we'll see you next

(01:37:39):
time on Mokina's Front Porch.

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Mayor Joe Werner; A Legacy of Service and Community

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