Winnetka Obituary: Patrick Requa, 75

The following was submitted from Wenban Funeral Home:

Patrick Goodrich Requa, of Antioch Illinois, died June 24, 2016 at home. He was 75. Originally of Lake Forest, Illinois, Pat graduated from Lake Forest High School in 1958. He attended Colorado State University and lived in the Chicago area most of his life.

Pat served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War for several years during the '60s. He was fluent in Mandarin Chinese and worked in intelligence, translating radio communications between China and the North Vietnamese.

Subsequently, he owned L & A Stationers in Winnetka, Illinois, a historic business of office supplies, stationery, records and books. After moving to Chicago in 1979, he worked as a concierge at the Chicago Hilton on Michigan Avenue and later as a trainer with the American Girl Corporation. Pat lived in Antioch from 1993, in an expansive log cabin on nearly 40 acres of wooded land overlooking Little Silver Lake. He and his spouse, Jim Hironimus, worked tirelessly to return the land to its native state.

Pat was an aficionado of the outdoors: He was an expert of indigenous plants and an avid wildlife photographer; loved working in the woods and kayaking, sailing, fishing and swimming. He was always at peace in his family cabin on Long Lake in Phelps Wisconsin and floating on the tranquil Crane Lake in the Ottawa National Forest in Michigan.

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Living his life with grace, finesse, and always a smile and a kind word, Pat’s friendliness was ceaseless and boundless. As one friend said, “I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with a bigger heart.” He was easygoing and beloved by those closest to him as well as acquaintances.

Pat was a devoted support of Center on Halsted, a major LGBTQ social service agency in Chicago; WXPR Public Radio in Rhinelander, Wisconsin; the Lake County (Illinois) Forest Preserve; and the 1958 Lake Forest High School Reunion Committee. He loved genealogy (serving as the family historian) and traveling. He was a terrific dancer.

Pat is survived by his spouse, Jim Hironimus (they were partners for more than 48 years) and a loving network of family and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents Mary and Charley Requa, his step-mother Norma Engberg Requa, his brother Chuck Requa, and his sister Tuckey Requa.

Memorial donations can be sent to the Long Lake of Phelps Lake District (PO Box 202, Phelps, Wisconsin 54554) or to the George Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (please specify melanoma research, in memory of Patrick Requa, information at: http://lombardi.georgetown.edu/about/support/ways.html).

A memorial celebration will be held in Phelps, Wisconsin, during summer 2017.

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