EPCHS Alum In The Spotlight: George Peso, Class Of 1961

EVERGREEN PARK, IL — About the history of Evergreen Park, there is perhaps no greater living authority than George Peso, the co-founder and chairman of the Evergreen Park Historical Commission and chairman of the Evergreen Park Zoning Board.

A good chunk of Evergreen Park history, Peso said, comes from here at Evergreen Park Community High School. Peso is one of the many thousands of forever Mustangs, graduating from one of the first classes to walk across the stage at 99th and Kedzie in 1961.

“I’d be in there (EPCHS) about once a week taking pictures throughout the school,” Peso said of when he was first establishing the Historical Commission, about 40 years after his graduation. “So if anything changes, I have a record of how it looked before.”

Many of those photos may be on display once the Historical Commission reopens its museum at the Senior Center on 95th and Homan. Presently in the Hamilton B. Maher Community Center down the street, the museum is set to return to its original location once renovations make it ready.

The Commission’s ultimate goal is to educate young people on the history of the village. Before COVID-19 hit, they began presenting local history lessons at the area District 124 elementary schools.

“All the teachers loved the idea, and many of the students were interested, too,” Peso said. They didn’t look too energetic at first, but once we started, it got them interested.”

Once the new museum is ready, Peso said the Historical Commission would like to host school groups from EPCHS, District 124 schools and the parochial schools in and near Evergreen Park for more in-person presentations.

He’s particularly interested in sharing his memories of EPCHS with current students some 60 years later.

“We had a lot of fun in our class,” Peso remembers of the group that graduated in 1961, noting that he received “a great education” from the school.

“I took a drafting class, which was the basis for me to get an interest in architecture. Mr. King, our teacher, was a good guy who taught me a lot of stuff. I had a good influence from my teachers here.”

Peso would indeed go on to become an architect, after attending Chicago Technical College and enlisting in the service (he spent 3 years in the U.S. Army after a 3-month school deferment as a U.S. Navy enlistee).

He said Lois Skillen, a school counselor in the early days of EPCHS, was instrumental in helping him find his career path.

“She gave me tests on my thinking ability,” Peso remembers. “I credit her for the time she spent giving me those tests. It really helped me figure out and decide my future path.”

Now retired after 50 years in architecture and the exhibit (trade shows) industry, Peso loves his ability to spend more time on his passion: Evergreen Park history.

“This town has a very interesting history,” he said. “For example, did you know there was a train robbery here in 1928?”

When he’s not working on the museum or answering zoning-related questions, Peso enjoys working on his Mozart Avenue home - the same one his family moved to when he was 12 years old in 1955.

Or, in the holiday season, portraying Santa Clause. He’s been the Santa at the Village of Evergreen Park’s Dickens Festival and other holiday events for the past 20 years.