By Brent Hoffmann, Class of 2005
There was something special about John’s Historic Treasures Tour on March 27th. “I had the pleasure of showing off the newly restored G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic) Memorial Hall and Rotunda at the Chicago Cultural Center,” he said. “One of the most striking updates is the tremendous size of the hall’s new carpet that reproduces the patterns from the former terrazzo floor and dampens the echoes from the marble. And the long-missing ceiling lights were beautifully reproduced, based on photos that were scanned and 3-D printed.”
Before becoming a docent in 2015, John was a lawyer with the U.S. Environmental Agency’s Midwest office in Chicago. “I served for 25 years at EPA, specializing in enforcement and mediation,” he continued. “It was at the EPA that I met my wife-to-be, Deborah Garber. And long before I saw the renewal of the G.A.R., I learned a little about the art and agony of restoration. Because Deb and I somehow survived the renovation of a two-flat to a single-family home while living in it, without getting divorced.”
Summers Abroad
John earned his law degree at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, after graduating with a degree in political science and Russian language at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. “I escaped Appleton by being in the school’s first classes to travel abroad during the summer breaks,” he continued. “Following my junior year, we took a two-month study and camping trip that began in Germany. We traveled through Sweden, Finland and the USSR from north to south.”
“After graduating from the University of Wisconsin, I became the director of student legal services program at Illinois State University in Normal,” he said. “Then I served as a city attorney for Normal before joining a private law firm in Springfield, followed up as an attorney for the city, and completed my career at the EPA in Chicago.
“I’ve always been interested in the urban environment,” said John, a long-time supporter of Friends of the Chicago River and Friends of the Parks. “So, it was logical that I become an architecture tour guide, particularly after my wife Deb became a docent in 2012 and loves it.”
FLW Trust
In addition to being director of the Historic Treasures tour, John’s been an exhibit host — and is certified to lead the River Cruise, Mid-Century Modern Skyscrapers, Must-See Chicago, and Neighborhoods by Bus tours. “I do the Robie House and Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio tours as a docent for the FLW Trust in Oak Park,” he continues. “Wherever I start my tour, I warn my Chicago, New York and other big-city tourees that we’ll only cross street at the intersection, in the crosswalk, and with the green light.
“Despite the threat of Covid, I’ve tried to stay physically active with biking, running, tennis and cross-country skiing,” he concluded. “I read novels as a member of the EPA retiree book club, and work on voting rights issues. Last summer, Deb and I finally got out of Chicago. We flew to Juneau for a one-week Alaskan ship cruise. We did an additional week traveling from Anchorage to Seward and the Kenai Peninsula – doing biking, hiking and kayaking. Beyond that, and our docent duties, we keep busy following the Cubs and trying to train our dog Erik.”
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