Alan John Soukup, aged 92, died of natural causes on November 25 th , 2015.
The second of three sons, he was born July 30 th , 1923 to Erwin Rudolph Soukup and Libby Vlasta Hofreiter. His wife of 44 years, Elizabeth Irwin (Betsy) Parker, died in 1993. He is survived by his children Cady Allyn Soukup, Anne Hornung-Soukup, Peter Jan Soukup, Margaret Erwin “Peggi” Soukup Bova and William Alan Soukup, by his three American Field Service children, Luisa Isabel Diaz, Hakan Litsegaard and Jan Tjernberg, and by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Alan was born and raised in Wheaton, Illinois and graduated from Wheaton Community High School. Following graduation, he was called up by the Navy and served as the youngest minesweeper captain in the history of the Navy at the time, earning the Bronze Star.
After his naval service, he graduated from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois with a degree in chemistry. He started a Master’s degree in chemistry at the University of Illinois where he met his wife Betsy, but he stopped graduate school to open a Soukup hardware store in Downers Grove, Illinois. Betsy joined him in Downers Grove in 1949 when they were married. In his long working career (he retired at the age of 75), Alan ran a Soukup hardware store, then a Soukup furniture store, was Advertising and Circulation Manager at the Downers Grove Reporter weekly newspaper for many years, sold advertising for a business journal in downtown Chicago, and sold real estate.
Alan and Betsy were very active members of the Downers Grove community. They joined the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Downers Grove, and sang in the choir there for over 40 years. Alan taught a very successful Sunday school course for teenagers, and he was a Boy Scout Leader for many years. He was a long-time member and several-time President of the DG Lions’ Club, and his annual Lions’ Club treasure hunts were known for their clever clues. He was a huge theater fan who became the unpaid but very happy theater critic for the local paper. In his later years, Alan was a volunteer Saint, an unpaid Chicago live theatre usher, and a Chicago Civic Opera supernumerary. Alan and Betsy and their family hosted three American Field Service students for one-year stays, one from Argentina and two from Sweden. Alan and Betsy travelled extensively after their children were grown, and Alan continued his travels after Betsy passed away. Alan was still reading two newspapers every day until shortly before his death.
Alan was known as a bright and outgoing man with an amazing sense of humor who was interested in everything and everyone. He will be sorely missed by his family and friends.
A memorial service will be held at 1:00 pm on February 13 th , 2016 at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church 1125 Franklin Street, Downers Grove, IL 60515. Memorials in Alan’s memory may be made to the church.
