Dr. Calvin Meineke, 77, died of natural causes at his home in Palos Park on Aug. 6. Born in 1948 in Austin, Minnesota to Merton and Jeanne Meineke, his father, who served in the Navy during World War II, worked in a meatpacking plant; his mother raised Cal and his 10 siblings. He married Valerie Moravec, of Berwyn, at age 19 and completed his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and his medical degree at UIC, specializing in internal medicine. They welcomed their first son in 1975 and moved to Oak Park, where they opened a family medical practice. Val worked as the practice’s office manager.
For over 40 years, Dr. Meineke was the primary care doctor for generations of Oak Parkers, Chicagoans, and west suburbanites. He ran his practice according to his belief that primary care is critical for patient well-being and that health care is a human right. He refused to sell his practice to a hospital or medical group that would have inhibited his ability to place the needs of his patients first or provide affordable care for self-pay patients.
After raising four children together, Cal and Val divorced in 2007, and he married Ewa Sukiennik (née Koniec), who also managed the practice and whose family had been close with Cal’s for decades. They moved to a home in Palos Park that became their sanctuary and the gathering point for their family.
He was a source of reassurance, calm, and counsel to the people in his life. He spent his golden years delighting in his grandchildren and staying involved in the lives of his patients. He had innumerable interests, but violin-making would become his second vocation. He spent late nights in his basement wood shop in a quest to understand the physics of stringed instruments. Contrary to common practice among violin-makers, he believed the instrument must be assembled and tuned as a complete system.
Cal was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers; and his first wife, Valerie. He is survived by his wife, Ewa; his children, Jeffrey, Gregory (Amanda), Lewis (Analeah), and Julia (Nicholas); his stepchildren, Agnieszka (Daniel), Eliza (David), and Adam; seven grandchildren; and eight siblings.
A memorial service will be held at Cheney Mansion in Oak Park on Aug. 30. Visitation will take place from 1 to 3 p.m., with memorial service to follow.