Route 66 in the News
Tom Teague's Legacy
2004-09-26 08:35:59
A modest wind will blow across Springfield this weekend. The state Capitol's downtown area is the site of the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival. Tom Teague had a lot to do with that.
Founder and first president of Route 66 Association of Illinois, Mr. Teague created the Route 66 Hall of Fame at the Dixie Trucker's Home in McLean, in the interstate prairie south of Bloomington. He led the drive to have 500 Route 66 signs posted in Illinois.
Mr. Teague died of sudden cardiac arrest Sept. 11 on his 61st birthday, surrounded by his family and friends who had come to wish him happy birthday in his Springfield home.
He was a small man who always dreamed big. He delivered. He was a high school teacher and a bait salesman. I did not know Mr. Teague well, but whenever I saw him, he was dressed more like a straight-laced teacher with a tie and less like a Lake Springfield bait salesman. He hung around you like a good conscience. During Vietnam, Mr. Teague served in the U.S. Army. He was stationed in Germany, assigned to translate intercepted Russian communications as a Russian Intelligence Analyst.
I came to know Mr. Teague when I wrote about The Soulsby Shell Station in Mount Olive, Ill. [Detours, Aug. 23, 1998]. Mount Olive is about 45 miles south of Springfield. The Soulsby Station is the oldest gas station still standing on Route 66, and its preservation was one of Mr. Teague's passions.
Mr. Teague started the Soulsby Station Society of Mount Olive to fund the restoration. After establishing an enthusiastic volunteer base, the gas station was recognized by the National Park Service as one of the best restoration projects of its kind. After that, the Soulsby Station was designated a National Historic Landmark.
I toured the gas station with Mr. Teague and Route 66 Hall of Famer Russell Soulsby, who helped build the 13-by-20-foot station in 1926. [Russell died in 1999 at the age of 89.] After Soulsby left, Mr. Teague told me, "We won't have Russell forever, so we're trying to offer a smaller pleasure. That's what Route 66 is these days, a road of smaller pleasures, not a road of Disney Worlds and Las Vegas pyramids."
Mr. Teague was one of the road's smaller pleasures. His work will continue. In 1991, he self-published the 337-page book Searching For 66 [$14 Samizdat House, 1208 W. Edwards, Springfield, Ill. 62704], which features the intricate artwork of Route 66 icon Bob Waldmire, whose father, Ed, invented the corn dog. It's also easier to chart old Route 66 now because of the new road signs Mr. Teague was instrumental in having erected. Mr. Teague was on the boards of the Springfield Arts Council and Downtown Springfield Inc.
"It was very easy to recognize Tom's passion and sincerity when it came to these projects," said Patty Kuhn, executive director of the Route 66 Heritage Project, based in Springfield. "It was easy to get involved once Tom was there. He viewed things with a honest, critical eye. I helped Tom with an application for a grant from the National Park Service for the Soulsby Station. When he got the award, this joyous e-mail came out. He was thrilled to share this news with all the people who helped along the way. You could feel his excitement in the words he had written."
Just by showing up at the International Route 66 Mother Road Festival is one way to celebrate Mr. Teague's life. A downtown street festival runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. Drag racing legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits appears Sunday in a car clinic on Washington Street between Seventh and Ninth Avenues. Martin Milner, the star of the original "Route 66" television series, also appears this afternoon. A Route 66 Commercial and Nostalgia Marketplace is held on Fifth Street between Monroe and Capitol until 3 p.m. Sunday. [For a schedule, visit www.route66fest.com or call (866) 783-6645]. More than 50,000 people attended last year's festival in downtown Springfield. Bring a light jacket. I guarantee the modest wind will register a cool 66 degrees.
Mr. Teague was born in Kansas City, Mo., and graduated from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa. Following military service, he attended Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville and then received a master's degree in public affairs reporting from Sangamon State University. Mr. Teague was employed as the public information officer for the Department of Children and Family Services. He retired in 2001 after 29 years of service.
He is survived by his wife, Beth, one son, Sean, of Seattle, Wash., two sisters and many nieces and nephews. Mr. Teague was buried at Camp Butler National Cemetery in Springfield. Memorial contributions can be made to the Memorial Scholarship Fund in Memory of Thomas Teague, c/o Routt Catholic High School, 500 E. College, Jacksonville, Ill., 62650, or the Illinois Veteran's Home, 1707 N. 12th St., Quincy, Ill., 62301.
Mr. Teague's physical presence may be gone, but his love of Route 66 is proof that the road does go on forever.
~Dave Hoekstra, Chicago Sun-Times
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