The year was 1979 when 21-year-old Brookfield resident Bob Goodman first started as an employee of the public works division at the Village of Western Springs. Nearly 45 years later, March 29 marked Goodman’s final day of work before his retirement.
To recognize Goodman and his years of dedication to the village and its inhabitants, the Western Springs village board proclaimed March 29 as Robert Goodman Day.
At the board’s March 11 meeting where it officially adopted the honorary day, Matthew Supert, Western Springs’ municipal services director, called Goodman the public works division’s “most reliable” employee.
“He is there for basically every emergency and every event we have. Honestly, in my 17 years working here, I don’t think I’ve ever heard Bob say no,” Supert said. “His accomplishments are simply remarkable. He has touched everything. The amount of knowledge that he has will truly never be replaced … He is something very special for the village, and he has been an integral part of this of this department and everything that it is, and we are going to miss him tremendously.”
Aside from a 23-year stint as a Western Springs firefighter that lasted through the mid-1990s, when he also served in public works, Goodman spent his entire career in that same public works division.
At the meeting, Goodman only spoke to point out his family members who were in attendance to celebrate with him. When asked about his initial reaction to hearing about Robert Goodman Day, Goodman didn’t say much.
“Well, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said of the day during his last week of work. “I’ll tell my wife it is my day, though.”
Goodman’s daughter, Shannon Goodman, who called herself the “nominated speaker” among her siblings, said these reactions speak to her father’s humble character and quiet, “yes/no” personality.
“Of course, my dad is very humble. He’s that generation that doesn’t need acknowledgement, even at the village hall when he was being honored,” she said. “It kinda just speaks for the person he is.”
Despite her father’s humility, Shannon Goodman said she was proud to see Western Springs acknowledge his dedication to serving the village and its people.
“He thoroughly enjoyed his job. I mean, between being in public works, and he was also a paid, on-call firefighter for the village, he really took pride,” she said. “I never really heard him complain. He wasn’t that guy that would take a sick day. I mean, he showed up every day.”
Despite his commitment to Western Springs, Goodman said he didn’t have a secret to showing up to work each day for 45 years.
“It’s just been a long time. Everybody says, ‘It’s a long time; how do they do it?’” he said. “It’s just another day, and those days build up to years, and years build up to, you know, a century.”
On the other hand, Shannon Goodman said her father’s reliability as a Western Springs employee reflected his values — as a worker, as a father and as a person.
“I just think he was part of that generation that just showed up every day, and he put in his 100% without complaint and without thoughts, and that’s just what he expected,” she said. “I think he was reliable just because that’s part of who he is as a person and as a family man. Like, if anything goes wrong, [he’s] the first person I call.”
When Goodman first started at Western Springs, he and his late first wife lived in the village, too, but they quickly moved to Brookfield, as she had grown up there. Since then, Goodman has called Brookfield home, and he said he has no plans for that to change.
“I have Tischler’s across the street. I got CVS across the street. Places to eat, you know, a block away,” he said. “Everything’s walking distance for me.”
“I think he’s just waiting that 61 days before he can look for something else … He’s like, ‘If the village needs me, I can wait 61 days and go back as a part-time person,’” said Shannon Goodman, referring to the mandatory waiting period for municipal employees who want to return to work without forfeiting pensions. “Their plans are staying in that home, and hopefully he gets a lot of new hobbies. I know all of us have lots of lists around our houses for him to do, so hopefully we can keep him as busy as the village did.”
While Goodman’s time at Western Springs has ended, Shannon Goodman said her father’s commitment to the village rubbed off on her and her siblings.
“You don’t see it that often, someone who’s still working [after] 45 years at the same company,” she said. “I really think he’s shown that to our family personally. I’ve been at my job 22 years; my brother’s been at his job 16. He’s just shown us how to be a good worker, how to be stable in our careers. We just appreciate everything that he does and has done for us.”
