Above / Cliff Preston, pictured here during the dedication of the Jaycees Gazebo in 2001, never was at a loss for words when it came to the Naperville Riverwalk.
Clifford C. “Cliff” Preston, age 90, World War II U.S. Navy veteran, a resident of Naperville, IL since 1952, died early on Friday, June 3, 2016, at Seasons Hospice in Naperville, IL.
Cliff was born May 29, 1926, in Triumph, IL. He is survived by his wife, Eleanor, son Tom and daughter Marcia Meier of Naperville, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Cliff and Eleanor were married more than 67 years.
Update / A complete obituary is now posted online at Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, 44 S. Mill Street, in Naperville.
Visitation is from 2-7PM Sun., June 5, at Friedrich-Jones. Visitation is from 10-11AM Mon., June 6, followed by the funeral service at 11AM at Grace United Methodist Church.
Naperville Riverwalk Champion
A building contractor by trade and owner of Preston Builders in Naperville, Cliff Preston will be remembered for his can-do spirit and dedication to building the Riverwalk, the city’s gift to its citizens to commemorate its first 150 years in 1981. Faithful Cliff served on the Riverwalk Commission for more than 16 years where he was chairman for a decade until he retired from the commission in 2003. He used his never-ending energy to help with design and development of the winding brick path from the Jefferson Avenue Bridge to Hillside Road as well as at Fredenhagen Park.
Here are a few notes to assign as captions to some of the photos in the gallery.
- Cliff puts the roof on the Jaycees Gazebo in 2001 along the Riverwalk Extension. The Jaycees donated $40,000 to the Riverwalk 2000 campaign to underwrite the Gazebo.
- Cliff meets with volunteers Rick Hitchcock, Kevin Gallaher and son Tom Preston to install benches along the Riverwalk extension back in 2000.
- Rita Harvard, Ted Fredenhagen and Cliff Preston offered a few words during the groundbreaking for Fredenhagen Park in 2002.
- Cliff returns from a recent Honor Flight to Washington, D.C.
- Cliff rode as a Navy Seabee in the Memorial Day Parade with Tom Priz, year after year after year.
- Cliff and his wife, Eleanor, attended and supported the annual Honor Flight fundraiser in the Calamos Hangar in 2015.
- The brick depicts the mileage of the Riverwalk when Cliff retired from the Riverwalk.
We have many fond memories of sitting on the Preston’s back porch, around their kitchen table and in the living room listening to Cliff’s stories, filled with pride and joy about advocating for the upkeep, growth and development of the Riverwalk along the DuPage River through the heart of the central business district.
We sometimes walked with Cliff along the Riverwalk beginning at Jefferson Avenue, noticing that he never left a weed unnoticed.
Cliff often talked of times when storage areas lined the riverbank and Centennial Beach was not much more than an old quarry. Then in the late 1970s, he and hundreds of community volunteers banded together in a grass-roots effort to begin the creation of the linear park, now more than two miles of pathways that jettison from the signature serpentine brick path that extends 1.7 miles from Jefferson to Hillside.
To many folks who knew Cliff Preston, he is the reason that we’ve come to call the Riverwalk a natural treasure every season.
—Stephanie Penick / Positively Naperville
Arrangements by Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home
Arrangements are being made by Friedrich-Jones Funeral Home, 44 S. Mill Street, in Naperville.
Updated & Correction / Visitation will be held at Friedrich-Jones from 2-7PM Sun., June 5. Additional visitation will be from 10-11AM Mon., June 6, just prior to the funeral service at 11AM at Grace United Methodist Church, 300 E. Gartner Road, Naperville.
He’ll be buried in Naperville Cemetery.
Heartfelt gifts in his memory can be sent to Naperville Riverwalk Foundation, Grace United Methodist Church Foundation and/or Honor Flight c/o Naperville American Legion Post 43.
RELATED POST / Daily Herald – Naperville’s Preston was “all in” for building community
RIVERWALK POSTS SAVED IN PN ARCHIVE / Search “Riverwalk” / Celebrate the inspiration of the Naperville Riverwalk /
Above / Just steps from shopping and dining in downtown Naperville, the Dandelion Fountain is the centerpiece of the Civic Plaza where folks gather along the Riverwalk.
Comments
Without a doubt, Cliff Preston did make things happen!! I recall conversations he had with Rita about Fredenhagen Park. —John Harvard
Thank you for sharing, Stephanie …well said and great photos! —Jane Abe
Cliff Preston will be greatly missed. He truly was a Friend of Our Riverwalk. —Jeanette Kolenda
Thank you for your spirit to serve in all aspects of your life. Rest in peace, my friend. —Christine Jeffries
Such a loss, prayers for his family and his beautiful spirit. —Donna Dziedzic
He is a Naperville treasure! —Joan Hennessy
You did such a great job on this tribute to Cliff Preston. He was such a great person and a true community leader. He will be greatly missed! —Nina Menis
Great man, and Family. —Tom Wehrli
A true loss to the city! —Julia Carroll
Wonderful person. Cliff did so much for Naperville during his life. —Barbara Graham
