R. Alan Berggren, 88, of Oak Park, died on Jan. 26, 2026, surrounded by his loving family. Born on Dec. 31, 1937 in Oak Forest, he was the only surviving child of Walter & Mildred Berggren (older sister Barbara died as a newborn). They lived in a house his father and grandfather built, and Al’s formative years were spent there. His family moved to Hinsdale where he attended Hinsdale (Central) High School, graduating at the young age of 16. He attended the University of Illinois in Champaign, worked his way through college and graduated with a civil engineering degree at age 20. That same year, he and Jean married and moved to Cincinnati to work at an engineering firm. After a couple years, he was offered an engineering job within the Real Estate Department at the New York Central Railroad, where he fell in love with real estate.
Within years he was working at a downtown Chicago firm, quickly moving up through the ranks. Finding it difficult to locate functional space for clients or operate industrial facilities within the inner city, he brought his boss plans to develop industrial and warehouse space in the suburbs near transportation hubs. When the owners refused to work outside the city He resigned and started Berggren Realty Corporation, and soon after Berggren Development Corporation. Developing industrial parks, office buildings, and shopping centers became his passion. He led the way to developing in the suburbs and many firms quickly followed.
Some of Al’s award-winning developments included Hinsdale Industrial Park, Oak Grove Center of Commerce, Batavia Industrial Park, and much of the office, retail, and restaurant developments on the east side of Butterfield and Finley in Downers Grove. He was past president or served on the board of AIREB, IDRC, COLBA, SIOR, etc. He chaired the Ethics Committee for many organizations and drafted National Guidelines for Brokerage and Ethics still in use today.
In Oak Park, with the help of many community-minded leaders, he was instrumental in the reopening and continued success of the Tennis and Fitness Centre of Oak Park – River Forest. As its general partner, his guidance and attention to detail helped leave a wonderful asset open to the community for 42+ years.
Al was the fun-loving husband for 67 years to Jean (nee Scheldrup) Berggren; the father of Michael, Robert, Steven (Laurie Broderick), Patrick (Kristin Kramer) and the late Timothy; the son of the late Walter and Mildred Berggren; the grandfather of Steven and Laurie’s children, Alan, Jennifer and Angela, and Patrick and Kristin’s children, Sarah (Colby) Hollins, James, Alexander, and step-granddaughter Lauren (Michael Dixon); and great-grandson Kane Dixon.
Visitation will be held at Conboy-Westchester Funeral Home, 10501 W. Cermak Road, Westchester on Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 3 to 8 p.m. The funeral Mass will be held at St. Vincent Ferrer Church (River Forest) on Feb. 5 at 10 a.m., interment at Queen of Heaven Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations to Mercy Home for Children would be appreciated.
