After 100 Years, Wilmette American Legion Post 46 Disbands

WILMETTE, IL — The last American Legion post in the village is disbanding, with dwindling membership and the financial pressures of the coronavirus pandemic forcing its closure. Peter Huerter American Legion Post 46 held its last event Saturday, dedicating a plaque to its namesake at St. Joseph Parish Cemetery, Pioneer Press reported.

Wilmette formerly had about 500 American Legion members and two separate posts, each of which held an annual Memorial Day parade, according to Wilmette Life. Former commander Andy Haszlakiewicz told Pioneer Press that Post 46's membership has fallen since the early 1970s, from about 240 members then to just a few active supporters today. And this year's restrictions on gatherings and public events have kept many veterans groups and other nonprofits from being able to raise money in the usual fashion.

Wilmette's American Legion post was formed in 1920 and dedicated to Peter J. Huerter, the first local serviceman to die during the United States' involvement in World War I, according to the Wilmette Public Library. He died of influenza on his way to France. Huerter was a resident of Gross Point, a neighboring town that dissolved itself in part due to the financial pressures of prohibition and was annexed by Wilmette in 1926.

From 1946 to 2014, Post 46 owned the former Gross Point School at 1925 Wilmette Ave. In 2014, it sold the building for $464,000 to the Northbrook-based Housing Opportunity Development Corporation. In 2018, despite vocal opposition and after some revisions, a 16-unit affordable housing development named Cleland Place was approved for the site. The veterans group has pledged the proceeds from the sale to charity.

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Some remaining members of Post 46 will join Morton Grove Post 143, with a farewell 21-gun salute planned for later this year, Pioneer Press reported. The post's former commander told the paper that veterans groups in wealthy communities like Wilmette have a harder time attracting members.

“People were moving away to Florida," Haszlakiewicz said. "Some died, and others lost interest."