Diane Harken

Meet Diane Harken

"I just love it here...Western Springs is so welcoming, beautiful, and full of children.”

Listen to the Conversation Here

Biography

Mrs. Harken’s parents wanted to live in the “country” so they moved from Chicago to Western Springs in 1950. She has lived here for a total of 72 years and has seen a lot of change in the town. Mrs. Harken's childhood home was on Lawn Avenue, there were only nine houses on the entire block, and the street was partially paved but the rest was dirt and gravel. Across the street from her parent’s house was just open prairie. Although her husband grew up in Iowa, she says “he fell in love with Western Springs” when they moved back here to be close to her parents and in-laws. Mrs. Harken was a flight attendant and on her way to O'Hare Airport on the morning of 9/11. Since then she and her husband, Bruce, have raised her their kids here. Two of those adult children now live far away while their third adult child lives in Oak Park.

Conversation Topics

Losses and tragedies: the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. as well as 9/11. These were the times in her life that brought her a bunch of sadness. In her words, it felt like her safety bubble was broken, but they are also important times in both our country's story and also in her own story.
Happiest memories: Memorial Day Parade, Spring Rock Park with grandchildren, Oberweis, and days at the Western Springs pool. All of these things, if you notice, involve her family. Mrs. Harken enjoys being with her family, such as her grandkids, and friends like her neighbors. She also really loves any activities that she can do outdoors.
Special People: Grandkids, husband, neighbors, families in Western Springs. Mrs. Harken really loves all the citizens in Western Springs. She cherishes all the moments she can get with the amazing town that she loves.
Words of Wisdom: Mrs. Harken wanted to tell future generations of Western Springs that our community is such an amazing town with so many great people. We should cherish every moment of it because, even though it is such a small community, there is still so much to it.

Celebrate Together

Mrs. Harken told us that she loves going to the Memorial Day Parade in Western Springs with her family and friends. She talks about the parade being a part of what makes Western Springs so special and unique because of all the memories it brought her. She also talks about all the different people who participate in the parade and how fun it is to see all these groups. Some people mentioned are war veterans and the poms teams from Lyons Township High School and Nazareth Academy.

Fresh Food Daily

Mrs. Harken remembered having groceries delivered from Brinker’s Grocery Store which is now Casey's Market. This shop is where many people including Mrs. Harken would buy their groceries in Western Springs. A replica of the original market that was named Henrickson's can be seen on the second floor of the water tower. Mrs. Harken also remembers having bread delivered to their home from the local baker and milk delivered from the local dairy.

A Witness to History

Given her job as a flight attendant, Mrs. Harken vividly remembers the events of 9/11. When she heard the news that the first towers had been hit, she was on her way to the airport for her next flight. One of her children was also on a school bus heading to downtown Chicago. The airline company told Mrs. Harken to still come to the airport until they could sort everything out. Her child's school bus returned to the area without going all the way downtown. So many people were frantically calling their friends and loved ones that phone lines across the country were jammed. Eventually, Mrs. Harken learned that a pilot she knew died in the day's events. Once flights resumed, Mrs. Harken and her fellow flight attendants had to learn all new safety procedures to avoid another tragedy.

Western Springs Story

Mrs. Harken talks about how the town we know as Western Springs has changed from when she first moved here 72 years ago. She also talks about how wide open it was here and how safe it was too. Her kids would walk to school while she and her husband took the train to Chicago for work. She talks about how she was a flight attendant during 9/11 and how she was a high schooler during the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and John Lennon. Mrs. Harken said “I just felt like the world tipped” when each of these events happened because “It's as though you had this safety bubble around you, and it was broken.”

What Makes Western Springs Special

- How nice everyone is
- So many activities for all different ages
- Local stores; no big stores
- Freedom for kids

Changes Seen in Western Springs

- Where today's Village True Value Hardware store is located, there was an A&P grocery store on the corner of Lawn Ave and Burlington with a bank next to it.
- Schlueter’s Pharmacy was an actual soda fountain and a variety/dime/drug store located across from the train depot in the space most recently known as the home of Hash Stacks Cafe and Clever Girl. Over time, Western Springs has been the home of 11 drug stores/pharmacies, but when Schlueter's closed, that was the end of having drug stores in downtown Western Springs.
- Before homes were built in Springdale, JC Vaughan, owner of Vaughan Seed Stores, had a plant nursery on this land that included more than 35,000 feet of glass greenhouses. These greenhouses were where the Garden Market Shopping and Lyons Township South Campus are now.
- Schools that have been built since Mrs. Harken moved to Western Springs: Laidlaw, Forest Hills, Field Park, St. John of the Cross Catholic Church and school and the LTHS south campus.
- Schools that have closed since Mrs. Harken moved to Western Springs: Grand Avenue (now a community center) and Franklin/Clark School.
- Kirschbaum's Bakery has been in the same location since the 1930s...and it has ALWAYS been a big favorite!
- Freshly baked bread was sold door to door by a company called Peter Wheat.
- The Western Springs Pool was built in 1954.
- The Police Station was located in Western Springs Water Tower.

Describe Western Springs in 3 Words

welcoming: people who live here are really welcoming when new people move into the neighborhood and neighbors soon feel like family.
beautiful: the Water Tower is one of Mrs. Harken's favorite landmarks and she really enjoys the Memorial Day Parade because so many different people are part of the celebration.
full of children and safe: growing up here, raising her children in the village, and now watching other children in her neighborhood, Mrs. Harken loves that children can roam free which makes it an amazing place to raise children.