Remembering Carbondale's Neil Dillard

It was a perfect attendance streak like no other.

When Neil Dillard concluded his 16-year tenure as mayor of Carbondale in 2003, he ended the longest mayoral reign in the city's history, as well as a streak of 457 consecutive Carbondale City Council meetings - an astounding number amassed during a decade and a half as mayor and several additional years serving on the city council prior to his first election to the top office.

Perhaps the closest he came to ending the streak, according to an interview the outgoing mayor gave to the Carbondale Times in 2003, was way back during his first year in office, in January 1988, when Dillard had emergency gall-bladder surgery one Monday and was forced to miss the Martin Luther King Jr. breakfast.

Eight days later, though, he was well enough to take his place at the next council meeting, and city government under his watch didn't miss a beat.

"When you're elected to office, you're making a commitment," he said at the time, quickly adding, "I credit the whole council for their attendance."

Dillard's perseverance on behalf of Carbondale, his adopted hometown, is being remembered this week following the former mayor's death last Saturday, April 24 at the age of 92.

Dillard's long tenure as mayor saw significant development and economic growth in Carbondale, and also neatly overlapped with the years of peak student enrollment on the SIU Carbondale campus.

In a statement issued this week, the city of Carbondale noted that under Dillard's leadership, the city partnered in the construction a new high school, as well as the development of the Superblock. Also, the city notes, the Dillard years saw the expansion of University Mall, a new water plant, and the construction of the Carbondale Civic Center.

On his way out of office in 2003, the mayor recalled to the Times the perseverance of the city council as it rejected a plan for a hotel and withstood the cancellation of a grant on its way to approving the construction of the civic center.

"I don't know how we got along without it," he said, reciting a list of the various dances, weddings and meetings held there. "It's busy."

Dillard was similarly proud of the cooperation that led to the expansion of the mall, a project that lasted throughout his first four-year term. He smiled as he recalled the grand opening. "That," he said, "was truly a beautiful event."

His recollections also included less glamorous decisions, including the one to divide downtown east-west traffic into two one-way routes.

"There was a lot of opposition," he said. "The council made a tough decision. It took courage to approve that."

The rerouting, he said, is an example of a project that "takes a lot of work. But once you get it done, it proves to be a good thing."

While he was mayor, Dillard also approved the development of the Human Relations Commission, which to this day still advises the council.

Dillard and his wife, Mary Ellen, both of West Frankfort, came to Carbondale in the early 1960s. Already a graduate of SIU, Dillard was working on his master's degree while his wife began a career at Carbondale public schools that included tenures as director of curriculum for District 95 and principal at Thomas School.

Together, they were named Citizen of the Year by the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce in 2003. Mayor Dillard also served as president of the Illinois Municipal League.

In November, the city featured Dillard in its virtual Veterans Day ceremony, highlighting Dillard's experience in the Korean War.

Jeff Doherty, a current city councilman, worked with Dillard for more than a decade when Doherty served as city manager. At Tuesday's city council meeting, Doherty recalled Dillard's "quiet yet effective leadership style."

"He was a kind and a humble man," Doherty said, "and he served our community well."

When Dillard ended his tenure as mayor in 2003 and passed the gavel to his successor, Brad Cole, he reflected on a career in Carbondale that began inconspicuously enough in 1964 with a desire to get a degree. "I thought I'd be here a year or two," Dillard said.

Instead, Dillard and his wife, who died in 2013, wound up making Carbondale home for the next six decades. When he left office, Dillard told the Times his one regret was that economic development hadn't occurred as quickly as he had hoped.

"My only major disappointment," he said, "is that it has been very, very difficult to secure employment opportunities for all the citizens of the city."

But, he maintained his optimism for Carbondale.

"I see a good future," he said. "Southern Illinois will be discovered. We're on the verge."

Funeral arrangements are pending at Crain Funeral Home.