For Lee M. Burkey Sr. to be more involved in his community, he would have had to have been two people.

Village president, village board member and village attorney were only a few of the titles he held as a resident of La Grange.

Purple bunting is draped over the Village Hall’s doors in his memory and the flag flies at half-mast for Burkey, who died Oct. 16.

It is a fitting gesture for a man who left such a mark on the community, particularly in the preservation of its grand homes.

“I don’t think residents realize the debt they owe him,” La Grange Area Historical Society president Jeannine McLaughlin said. “He was the first one to notice the condition of so many of the homes in La Grange in the 1970s, especially in the older part of La Grange.”

Burkey established the Heritage and Architectural Commission, on which McLaughlin served, to determine the historical and architectural significance of many of the village’s homes. The commission’s efforts led to the historical district being established and later recognized in the National Register of Historical Places.

“People who are here now cannot recall the poor conditions the homes were in,” McLaughlin said.

“Many were owned by absentee landlords. Some developers were anticipating ordinance changes to allow high rise buildings north and south of the tracks. When we were able to find the data necessary to place many blocks in the National Register. There was a change in attitude in the village. A pride in ownership happened. The fabric of the village changed as a result of Lee Burkey’s intuition and insight.”

Lee Burkey Jr. summed up his father in one word.

“As a person, the word that would be most appropriate to describe him was integrity — integrity in all his involvement with the village as a Village Board member, village president and village attorney,” Burkey Jr. said.

The father and son attorneys worked together in their own law practice and served together on the board of Aging Care Connections, formerly the Southwest Suburban Center on Aging.

“It was quite interesting and stimulating. We were able to feed off of each others ideas,” Burkey Jr. said. We usually agreed with the direction the agency should take. My relationship has always been quite close. He was my best friend and buddy. What’s really wonderful is right up to the end we aware able to share the richness of life.”

Burkey Jr. described his father a scholar, particularly in history, with 5,000 books in his personal collection.

“He had a voracious appetite for learning and reading,” Burkey Jr. said. “Right up to the end he was reading. The night before he die he was reading his favorite play, ‘Macbeth.’”

Village President Elizabeth Asperger’s memories of Burkey Sr. predate her tenure in elected office. Her father was village president of Western Springs the same time Burkey Sr. held the title in La Grange.

“He gave to me after I got on the Village Board a flag lapel pin my father had given to him to congratulate him on being elected,” Asperger said. “He was the type of civil servant a community cherishes — a generous spirit, passionate about the community he lived in, and he worked tirelessly to guide, improve and advance the interests of La Grange and its residents.”