Edward Waldemar Ekstrom

Edward Waldemar Ekstrom, a longtime resident of Barrington, Illinois, passed away peacefully at age 93 on July 23, 2021.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of over 60 years, June Ruth Ekstrom. He is survived by his three children: Keith Edward Ekstrom, Loren “Larry” Edward Ekstrom (Laura), and Diane Ruth Slocum. He was the loving grandfather to Elizabeth Ekstrom (Eric) Jung, Kristina Susan Ekstrom, Grant Woodward Ekstrom, Ella Albright Ekstrom, Brittany Slocum (John) Hobratschk, Emmalene Slocum (Michael) French, Jocelyn May (Atesh Atici) Slocum, and Joseph Graham Slocum as well as the great-grandfather of John Peter Hobratschk, Lars Edward Hobratschk, Alexis Elizabeth Jung, and Mason Albert French.

Mr. Ekstrom was born on February 29, 1928 in the Andersonville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois to A. Waldemar “Wally” Ekstrom and Kerstin Stromberg Ekstrom. His father taught him soccer and coached his junior soccer team of the Viking Soccer Club. He attended Lane Tech High School, where he played on the varsity soccer team, and graduated in 1945.

After graduation, he answered the call of his country and enlisted in the US Coast Guard, celebrating his 18th birthday on board a train heading to the Coast Guard Training Center in Alameda, California. He subsequently was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia and served on the CGC Conifer and the CGC Linden.

Following the War, he enrolled in Northwestern University’s School of Business. He graduated from Northwestern with a degree in business administration in 1951. While at Northwestern, he continued playing soccer for the Viking Soccer Club and became captain of the Viking Soccer Team.  In the summer of 1949, he met the beautiful and talented June Broberg at a Swedish picnic; they were married on September 16, 1950.

In 1952, he founded the Edward W. Ekstrom Company, General Contractors, a construction business that he ran until his retirement at age 65 in 1993. Throughout his career, he built numerous churches, schools, commercial buildings, and custom residential homes, including the Barrington home, where he lived from 1966 until 2021.

He loved his home in Timberlake as it overlooked a pond that was the perfect size for ice skating and playing hockey. During the winter, the neighborhood boys would meet on that pond and play hockey after school, and the dads would gather on Sunday afternoons for father and son hockey games. He and several other enthusiastic fathers from nearby neighborhoods formed the North Barrington Hockey League, the first organized hockey league in the Barrington area, and his pond became the original home ice for the Timberlake Hockey Team.

In addition to ice skating, he enjoyed downhill and cross country skiing. After retirement, he took up inline skating and bike riding and would skate and bike throughout the neighborhood and surrounding areas. As a septuagenarian, he became the subject of an article in the local newspaper for annually “logging over 1,300 miles on his in-line skates, 300 miles on his bicycle, and 100 miles cross-country skiing.” He also enjoyed sailing and racing his Sunfish sailboat and was a founding member and past Commodore of the “Timberlake Yacht Club.”

He enjoyed all things Scandinavian and was a member of the Torske Klub and the Swedish American Museum.

A funeral service will be held on July 31, 2021 at the Barrington United Methodist Church (located at the corner of Route 59 and Algonquin Road, entrance on Algonquin Rd.). The visitation will begin at 1:00 pm, followed by a 2:00 pm service. Interment at Evergreen Cemetery in Barrington. Reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Swedish American Museum Edward Ekstrom Memorial Fund, 5211 N. Clark St., Chicago, IL 60640.