Richard H. “Rick” Meegan, 80, of Oak Park, died peacefully on Jan. 12, 2015 in hospice, surrounded by family members.
Meegan, whose father Henry worked as a Chicago Tribune driver for 46 years, was himself a Tribune driver for 48 years, rising to division supervisor.
He also sold the Sunday papers outside St. Edmund Church beginning in 1970. When the operator of one of the last working newsstands in Oak Park — located under the Oak Park Avenue Green Line viaduct — became too ill to continue in 1975, he took over the operation, putting his high school-age son to work there weekday afternoons.
“Dad jumped at the chance to get a newsstand,” his son, Rick J. Meegan, recalled.
Over the next three decades, Rick Meegan became known to countless people around the Oak Park area. Standing with his hands tucked in his coin apron, he was a fixture there every Sunday, whatever the weather. He reportedly missed only three days over 32 years.
Newspapers were one of three great passions in Meegan’s life, and he managed to blend all three. His daughter, Debbie M. Schaubel, called her father “the most dedicated family man.”
“Many family members helped him with this on Sundays as early as 4 a.m., including his children and grandchildren,” said Schaubel. “Most summer vacations were spent with his family at cottages in Michigan. His love of Lake Michigan is what brought about his passion for boats, and his 1963 wooden Skee/Craft boat was his pride and joy.”
After his retirement, Schaubel said, her father spent many Mondays (he couldn’t go on Sundays) sailing his boat in New Buffalo. He always included his kids and their families.
In 2006 Meegan spoke with Wednesday Journal of his 65 years as a newspaper distribution driver and newsstand operator.
“In 1942, all the qualified helpers were in the [military] service,” he said. Meegan went on to work on a truck that distributed for several blocks on either side of Madison Street from Western Avenue to Austin Boulevard. He also sold newspapers near Comiskey Park on the South Side.
The day he turned 18, Meegan started his almost half-century career as a driver. But the world he knew over that time is long gone. He spoke of the shadows falling across the industry that had been his livelihood.
“Street sales are hurting,” he told the Journal in 2006. Meegan readily admitted he ran the stand more for the social aspects than for the money. After paying his help and buying lunch at Erik’s Deli, he said, he was lucky to take home $20 for eight hours work.
“My kids are always saying, ‘Dad, why don’t you quit?’ I tell them, hey, I like going over there and talking to people.”
Meegan rightly doubted there would be anyone waiting to take his place when the time came to walk away from his stand for the last time.
In mid-May 2007, he suffered a series of strokes. After a hospital stay and extended rehab, he returned to his Wenonah Avenue home under the care of his late daughter, Charlotte. He recovered enough to enjoy walking his dog and getting back to his beloved boat up in Michigan, but he never again worked the newsstand.Â
The stand continued operating for a while after his stroke, thanks to nephew Eddie Mesko, who made the trek from south suburban Chicago Heights early every Sunday morning. But without Meegan’s enduring passion the business disappeared from the viaduct by the end of 2007.
Meegan’s son said his dad was the last of a breed.
“He was a blue collar, hardworking guy,” said Rick J. “He was always on the go.”
His father never disclosed to interviewers that he rose to the status of the Tribune’s Southwest Side Division boss, saying only that, “I was a driver for 48 years.”
“He believed in the job, not the title,” said Rick J. “He would talk to all the drivers [under him], because he was one himself.”
Rick J. said his family will always be proud of what their dad did.
“Every one of us knew what a legend Dad was with that stand,” he said. “It meant the world to us, knowing what it meant to people.”Â
Richard H. Meegan was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Florence Meegan; his sister, Sharon Tenerelli; his son, Timothy Meegan; his daughter, Charlotte Meegan; and his ex-wife, Beverly Gallo. He is survived by his children, Debbie (Bill) Schaubel, Barbara Jackson (Gary Sanders), Richard J. Meegan (Mickey Zimmer), Kathy (Mike) Matuszak, Karen (Joey) DiGiovanni, and Beverly (Jon) Stockholm; his daughter-in-law, Mary Pat; his brother-in-law, Wes Curda; as well as 20 grandchildren, 8 great-grandchildren, many nieces and nephews, and many friends.
Visitation will be held this Saturday, Jan. 24, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., followed by a memorial service, at Zimmerman Harnett Funeral Home, 7319 Madison St., Forest Park.
