I moved to South Elmhurst in 1981 and after a time I needed a haircut. I had driven by a small house that included a barber shop and decided to try it out. Inside were two, classic, barbers. They cut hair, watched sports, told stories and shared gossip. It was fascinating and I got my hair cut there until the pandemic hit in 2020, almost 40 years. 

They treated customers like family and in many ways we were. We knew about birthdays, anniversaries, trips, vacations, illnesses, births, deaths. We had a relationship. Later my son would get his hair cut there and he was accepted as family too. When I started going there I was 32, I’m not sure how old the two barbers were. We just aged together. The pandemic changed many things for all of us. It ended this barber story. I lost track of both of them. I watched the barbershop’s location to see if they might re-open, but they never did. 

Recently, I saw a sign in the barbershop’s window that both the barbers had passed away. Sad. I hope they both knew how much they meant to so many people over their years. I haven’t used their names in this blog to respect their privacy…but I know many of you reading this will know who they were. 

Two barbers in Elmhurst…forever remembered.