Doorperson of the Month: Frank Wilson

Frank Wilson completed many journeys before arriving at McClurg Court, where he has been a member of the door staff for more than four years. After gaining experience in a multitude of industries, he considers the apartment complex at 333 E. Ontario a great place to be.

“The residents here are real nice,” he said. “I try to be helpful and I always remind people to have a good evening and a good morning, and they’ll talk to me if I spark up a conversation.”

Raised in the Roseland neighborhood on Chicago’s south side, Wilson briefly attended Wendell Smith Grammar School before continuing his education in Evanston. “I transferred out to the Boys Hope Girls Hope Scholars (BHGH),” he said. “It was operated by Jesuits.”

Catering to “academically minded” students, BHGH helped Wilson excel at St. Athanasius, a Catholic grade school in Evanston where he played sports and remained on the good side of the nuns who “kept you right in line.”

After graduating from “St. As,” Wilson attended St. Gregory High School on the city’s north side but maintained his connection to the suburbs on the North Shore. “I worked at Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmette for 19 years and once caddied for Brian Doyle Murray (co-writer and cast member of ‘Caddyshack’),” Frank said. “He was hilarious and also a good tipper.”

Frank enlisted as a reservist in the U.S. Army after graduating from St. Gregory’s. Stationed out of Joliet, he was motivated by patriotism as well as family tradition.

“My father and brother were Marines, my nephew was Navy, and I have uncles in all of the branches,” he said. “My grandfather served in the Korean War.”

Frank did not see any action—even though “part of me wanted to go fight for my country,” he said—but he learned some things that have helped since.

“My wife likes the way I fold clothes because I was in the military,” he said.

Frank’s wife worked for 16 years at the powerhouse media-buying company Starcom before she retired. For ten of those years, she worked with his mother, who was employed by Starcom’s parent company, the advertising agency Leo Burnett. His father was a truck driver for Illinois Bell.

“My parents were great,” he said. “They weren’t too strict, but kids are going to be kids and I got in trouble like everybody else and I got punished when I needed it.”

Before joining the team at McClurg Court, Frank was the Dock Master at the Chicago Cultural Center on Michigan Avenue. Besides coordinating private weddings and parties, he facilitated official functions for the City of Chicago. “When Mayor Daley had his affairs, they had it at the Cultural Center because it’s part of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events,” he said. “When his wife passed, I worked for 24 hours straight.”

Outside of work, Frank and his wife are active members of Trinity All Nations Church at 96th and Vincennes. Although the pandemic has reduced their preferred four-day-a-week schedule, they’ve got other things to help them keep the faith.

“My wife and I have four kids and fifteen grandkids and one great grandchild who was born Nov. 5,” he said. “Oh, man, they’re just beautiful.”