Robert J. Hastert Jr. owned landmark dining establishment, White Fence Farm Restaurant - *Chickenmobile*
Hoodoo
chicken atop it).
- - -
White Fence Farm owner
ROBERT J. HASTERT JR. | 1936-2010: Romeoville chicken restaurant is a
landmark -- and an economic force
July 3, 2010
BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporter
http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/2460260,CST-NWS-xhast03.article
http://www.suntimes.com/news/obituaries/2460070,070310xhast.fullimage
Robert J. Hastert Jr., a native of Aurora and Navy veteran, poses with
one of his restaurant's trucks in 2005.
Robert J. Hastert Jr. presided over a landmark dining establishment that
could teach business school grads a thing or two.
His White Fence Farm Restaurant seats 1,100 and has served up countless
fried chicken dinners in its 56 years.
It has ridden out no-carb trends and economic downturns thanks to a warm
welcome for patrons and its no-frills menu of good food, served hot.
Mr. Hastert, 73, died Wednesday in Lemont.
His Romeoville eatery is an economic force. It has sustained other
businesses, including poultry producers, and the manufacturers who
collaborated with him in developing machines that make his chicken so good.
"He helped invent this big machine to flour chicken," said his cousin,
former U.S. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert. "It was almost a big cement
mixer that handled the chicken very tenderly."
Huge pressure-cooker-style machines had been used in hospitals to
sterilize equipment, but Mr. Hastert reconfigured them to cook poultry,
his cousin said: "It was the first time anything like that was ever done."
Mr. Hastert was born in Aurora and attended high school in Naperville,
said his daughters, Laura Hastert-Gardner and Susan Hastert.
Poultry was in his bloodline. His father, Robert C. Hastert, worked for
an entrepreneur the family today only knows as "the Chicken Man." They
slaughtered chickens, and Robert Sr. delivered them to restaurants.
Even as a teen, Mr. Hastert had strong self-confidence and a sense of
humor, which enabled him to laugh when his parents had him drive to
school in their Chickenmobile -- a vehicle for delivering chicken
dinners. The rear opened up like a hen laying an egg.
Mr. Hastert served in the Navy and attended Bradley University, where he
courted his future wife, Jeanne, with the same zest he brought to the
restaurant business.
She was a campus queen, and he needed to get her attention. He not only
serenaded her under her window -- he painted her sorority house pink
while she slept, said Susan Hastert.
Jeanne worked beside him at White Fence Farm during their long, happy
union. He called her "Queenie," because it rhymed with Jeanne.
He provided thousands of youngsters with their first jobs. For some it
became a career, and now their children and grandchildren work for the
company. Fourth-generation Hasterts are in the business today.
He expanded with carry-outs in Downers Grove, Joliet, Plainfield,
Riverside and Romeoville. Often asked to open franchises, he didn't want
to lose quality control. He granted rights to one: in Lakewood, Colo.
Mr. Hastert lost his Queenie 14 years ago but kept going. He loved
feeding people and making them happy. He took pride in the patrons who
returned over the decades for their landmark celebrations. Some even
drove in from other states.
He enjoyed the sensation of freedom he got from snowmobiling along the
Continental Divide at his vacation cabin in Grand Lake, Colo.
And he loved sailing on his boat, Chicken of the Sea.
He collected vintage cars and antiques that were often on display at the
restaurant. They included a Model T and Mustang convertibles.
"He had a different hat for each car," said Susan Hastert.
Mr. Hastert also had a special cowboy hat he wore for horseback riding.
He donated many meals to charity and even knocked on doors personally to
deliver them. Countless needy families wouldn't have had holiday dinners
without him, said Laura Hastert-Gardner.
The Hasterts often hosted exchange students -- and sometimes, their
families -- from as far afield as Australia, China, Japan and New
Zealand. Lifetime friendships were forged. One Australian is flying in
from Down Under to be here just for Mr. Hastert's funeral -- and
returning home the next day.
Mr. Hastert was active with the Lockport Rotary Club and Big Brothers.
His son Robbie died in 1968 at age 5 when he drowned in the restaurant's
above-ground septic system.
Mr. Hastert is also survived by three grandchildren.
His funeral mass is at 10 a.m. today at St. Andrew Catholic Church in
Romeoville.
--
Trout Mask Replica
KFJC.org, WFMU.org, WMSE.org, or WUSB.org;
because the pigoenholed programming of music channels
on Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck