Ronald “Ron” Bean, Park Forest’s first Black village president, died in November 2025, but his impact on the community continues to be felt decades after his service.
Bean moved to Park Forest in 1969, drawn to the Village’s national reputation as an intentionally integrated community where residents of all races lived and worked together. His commitment to civic engagement led to his election as a village trustee in 1974. After seven years on the board, he was elected village president in 1981—an historic milestone, as Park Forest remained a majority-white community at the time.
Those who served alongside Bean recalled him as a steady, measured leader whose professionalism helped guide the Village through often-challenging discussions. His presidency coincided with critical infrastructure needs as Park Forest’s original water, sewer, and public systems reached the end of their useful life. Under his leadership, the Village began necessary upgrades that were costly and largely unseen but essential to its long-term stability.
Bean also played a central role in confronting the decline of the Park Forest Plaza, once the Village’s commercial hub. With a background in economic development, he pursued redevelopment strategies and supported early tax-increment financing efforts aimed at revitalizing struggling commercial areas, including the Norwood and Blackhawk centers.
Beyond infrastructure and economic development, Bean championed cultural and community initiatives. He supported the launch of the Park Forest Symphony—now the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra—the Garden House senior housing development, and the PIZZAZZ festival, celebrating diversity and community pride.
In a 1982 report by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Bean said Park Forest residents were “capable of looking beyond the issue of race or national origin,” a belief that guided his public service.
Although Bean and his family moved to Olympia Fields in 1986, his leadership remains a defining chapter in Park Forest’s Black history and civic legacy.