Gary and Patty Krosch to Receive Forest Park Forever’s Leffingwell Award
Longtime Forest Park leaders, supporters, volunteers to be honored at annual Leffingwell Society event
ST. LOUIS – The remarkable turnaround of Forest Park, from a park in decline in the 1980s to one that today is repeatedly named the U.S.A.’s best city park, is largely thanks to the passionate efforts of people who saw the potential of St. Louis’ largest park.
Among those individuals, few have left as long and lasting a mark on Forest Park than Gary and Patty Krosch. The couple were present for the formative days of Forest Park Forever, the nonprofit conservancy founded in 1986 as a friends group to support Forest Park, and they have remained involved in a variety of roles through the Park’s restoration ever since.
Gary and Patty Krosch
The recipients of the 2023 Leffingwell Award were instrumental to the beginning of Forest Park’s turnaround in 1986, and they’ve been avid supporters ever since.
In recognition of their service, Forest Park Forever will honor them with the Leffingwell Award, which is bestowed annually to a corporation, foundation or individuals who have made a significant contribution of time, talent or resources to the restoration and maintenance of Forest Park. The award will be presented Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Leffingwell Society’s Evening in the Park, an annual celebration of Forest Park Forever’s leadership donors.
“Gary and Patty are among the earliest and most dedicated volunteers in Forest Park Forever’s history,” said Lesley S. Hoffarth, Forest Park Forever President and Executive Director. “All of us in this organization and all 15.5 million annual Park visitors today benefit from their service, which now spans parts of five decades.”
But Gary and Patty are quick to redirect credit to others. They insist the story is not about them, but about the Park itself and all those who loved it enough to make its restoration a reality. They are quick to reference other early Forest Park Forever co-founders, leaders and supporters like Mary Stolar, Peasy Love, Evelyn Newman, Caroline Laughlin, John Weil, Sue Clancy, Jim Mann and the Taylor family.
A new city, and a new cause
An accomplished marathon and ultra marathon runner, Gary’s Forest Park relationship began in the early 1980s when, still relatively new to the city, he joined a group of runners known as the 6:20 Club. The group met every morning at 6:20 a.m. to run around Forest Park and other parts of the community, and they couldn’t help thinking about the unfulfilled potential around them. As they ran their pre-work route each morning, they often discussed the deferred maintenance, deterioration and safety concerns that hindered the Park.
To do something about the situation, Gary joined the group that formed Forest Park Forever in spring 1986. Initially, the group did not have many resources nor authority to make improvements – just a mailbox and one phone line – but they had “a good group of concerned local citizens and Park neighbors who had a grave concern for the conditions in Forest Park,” Gary recalls.
In the ensuing years, the group created a structure, worked with the City of St. Louis to form a Master Plan for the Park, and ignited excitement and belief among the community for the Park’s potential. They also came up with fundraising events to help turn the restoration of Forest Park from a morning-run conversation to a reality benefiting the entire region.
That is where Patty Krosch’s Forest Park Forever story begins. A founding member of the Women’s Committee – which has hosted 32 annual Hat Luncheons, among other events – Patty supported these fundraisers, office activities and many other organizational needs as a volunteer ever since.
Meanwhile, Gary served as President of the Board, an emeritus board member, as well as on the public Forest Park Advisory Board.
Neither Gary nor Patty is originally from St. Louis, but both came to love their adopted hometown and its central destination. During his career, Gary’s promotions within Florsheim Shoe Company took him from Minnesota to Iowa, Chicago to Los Angeles and Seattle to Atlanta. A recruitment by May Department Stores brought him to St. Louis in 1979. Patty, a native New Yorker with an appreciation for Central Park, taught in five states and attended three graduate schools before the couple came to St. Louis and left their mark.
It is the great fortune of the entire region and Forest Park’s 15.5 million annual visitors that they did.
The Leffingwell Award is named for Hiram W. Leffingwell, one of the earliest supporters of Forest Park after its founding in 1876. As key supporters during a pivotal period in the Park’s revival 110 years later, and as dear friends of Forest Park Forever throughout its 37-year history, Gary and Patty Krosch could not be more fitting recipients of this honor.