Religion Christian Name Frank Derickson | Spouse Betty Derickson Political party Democratic Party | |
Born August 8, 1928 (age 95)
Murphysboro, Illinois ( 1928-08-08 ) Children Vicki Jean Search
Brenda Jo Gallagher Residence Chester, Illinois, United States | ||
Frank Eugene Derickson served as mayor of Chester, Illinois, from 1985 to 2001.
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Early life
Born in Murphysboro, Illinois, on August 8, 1928, Derickson moved to the nearby town of Chester at an early age. He left Chester High School and joined the United States Army in 1948. He was sent to Japan in July 1950 with his unit, the Eighth Army, and into the Korean War in November of that year. He received the National Defense Medal, the United Nations Service Ribbon, and the Korean Service Medal with Three Battle Stars for his tour of duty in Korea.
After leaving the Army at the rank of Staff Sergeant in 1951, Derickson maintained several diverse occupations, including operating his own restaurant, the Night Hawk, in Chester. He later worked for the State of Illinois for twenty years.
He married Betty Esther Shemoney in Piggott, Arkansas, on November 15, 1952, and they had two daughters—Vicki Jean, born 1953, and Brenda Jo, born 1954.
Entry into politics
Derickson's first involvement in electoral politics came in the early 1960s, when he assisted in the campaign of a friend running for Randolph County sheriff. Derickson later ran for city clerk when the incumbent retired, and he served in the office for one four-year term before retiring, deciding that the position did not afford him enough excitement. A few years later, at the urging of the Democratic Party county chairman, who was then mayor, he ran for alderman, a position he would hold for seven years. Derickson served one four-year term before successfully running for reelection, but three years into his second term he moved into a different ward of the city and thus had to resign the office. In 1985, at the urging of several local Democratic committeemen, he ran for mayor, defeating the incumbent by carrying every precinct in the city. Derickson was unopposed in each of bids for reelection to the nonpartisan post.
Tenure as mayor
Derickson was a successful candidate for reelection in 1989, 1993, and 1997. He did not seek a fifth term in 2001.
During his tenure, the city repainted the Chester Bridge—a span across the Mississippi River that links Illinois with Missouri—an expensive and complicated undertaking due to environmental regulations that dictated that the old paint, which needed to be removed by sand blasting, be collected. Illinois, Missouri, and the federal government shared the expense of this project.
Derickson also was responsible for a number of improvements to the city's infrastructure, including a new recreation complex, drinking water and waste water treatment facilities, a downtown park dedicated on December 3, 1993, a fire station, and a storm warning siren system, as well as upgrades to the city's public Carnegie library, water lines, and roads.
Since leaving office
Derickson was recognized by the Chester Chamber of Commerce as its Citizen of the Year in 2001.
He currently serves as a Democratic precinct committeeman and was an early supporter of Barack Obama both for the United States Senate in 2004 and for president in 2008. Obama mentioned Derickson in his 2006 book The Audacity of Hope.