Memorial Day Community Artist

Community Artist, Arthur R. Foss Jr.

1979.12.1

Happy Memorial Day from the Kenilworth Historical Society. In our collections sits a 5ft x 10ft oil painting on canvas by Arthur R Foss Jr, one of Kenilworth’s WWII veterans. The mural was painted on October 2, 1943 between his time overseas while serving in the African desert campaign.

Foss was born in 1924 in Cook County, Illinois to Arthur R. and Octavia Foss. Arthur Sr. was a partner in the law firm of Foss, Schuman & Drake and a predecessor in Chicago for more than fifty years. The family lived at 640 Park Drive in Kenilworth from 1936 until around 1979. Arthur Jr. graduated from Joseph Sears School in 1938 and New Trier High School in 1942. After high school he enlisted and was involved in the African campaign during WWII. Arthur was killed in action on November 14, 1944.