Jake Molter was called home early Saturday morning September 29, 2018. He is survived by his three children, Judy, Daniel, and David (Paula) and two grandchildren Michael and Kevin. He was preceded in death by his loving wife of 62 years, Joan Molter (Burgeson) and a large family of 9 brothers and sisters. Services and Interment are private at St. Peter’s Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, Memorials will be appreciated to St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, 125 W. Church St., Elmhurst.
The son of Jacob Molter Sr. and his wife Annie, Jake grew up in Chicago, attended Lane Tech High School and DeVry Technical School. He served in the U.S. Navy as a flight prep mechanic aboard the USS Antietam CV36 during the Korean War.
In 1955, after returning from the service, he married Joan Burgeson and started a family in Bensenville in a newly-built house that remained his home for the rest of his years.
Before the service, he started work with Illinois Bell Telephone Co. as an inter-office delivery courier. Now back in civilian life, he resumed work at Illinois Bell as a telephone lineman on the long line cable installations. Later, he moved on to residential repair and finally, to PBX business data repair. During his years there, Jake learned how to talk to people and get to know their stories. He did repairs at so many local businesses and could recite what each company did as you drove by them in town. Jake retired in 1985 with 38 years of service.
After his retirement from the phone company, he took on a new job as the faithful caretaker of St. Peter’s United Church of Christ, where he worked for the next nine years. The friendships he gained during that time lasted him the rest of his life.
When that chapter ended and he was truly retired, he enjoyed traveling to Minocqua, Wis., to vacation and golf. He became friends with the resort owners and soon started helping out with the building of their cabins and doing repairs. This was something that gave him great satisfaction and lasting friendships with good memories. The resort owner even named their new dog “Jake” in his honor.
Back home he enjoyed peaceful evenings at the Elmhurst train platform with other train enthusiasts while gaining a new circle of friends, telling stories and passing the time. As recently as last month, Jake got to travel to the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, as part of the Honor Flight Chicago organization to tour the Korean and WWII memorials.
As a father, he taught his children the values of hard work by example of his dedicated work ethic. He taught how everyone has a story and how important it is to really “hear” each person. He always took time to take his family on simple vacations each summer to Wisconsin, where he taught them how to fish and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. He was a builder, a fixer, a mechanic, a doer, a father, and a friend. “Journey on, sweet father. Thanks for all you’ve done and continue to do in our lives.” Arrangements provided by Ahlgrim Funeral Home. For more information, call 630-834-3515.
