ILCA Person of the Year — Charlie Keppel

ILCA’s 2022-23 Person of the Year Charlie Keppel

by Nina Koziol

Charles “Charlie” Keppel has worn many

hats over the years — arborist, fighter of forest fires, Master Mason, conservationist, safety guru, educator, committee member, church elder, Sunday school teacher, cubmaster, and vice president. Add Past President of the ILCA and the Illinois Arborist Association and the thousands of hours he’s spent volunteering and you may wonder when he has time to sleep.

“He’s a loyal and steadfast member of ILCA and has volunteered for a long time,” says Barb Rosborough, a past president of ILCA. “He’s the kind of guy who you can ask to do something and he does it happily and well—for years.”

Keppel has done an incredible job of melding his career, family, and volunteer activities into a seamless whole. “Meeting with people and educating them on the environment and how we can make a difference is one of the things I like best. If I can teach 10 people how to improve the environment by train-the-trainer, then they can expand on it. I think it’s very important.” He now is teaching the grandchildren of former students.

“We served on the ILCA board of directors together and he participated in the Leadership Council we put on back in the day,” said Bob Hursthouse of Hursthouse, Inc. “Charlie is thoughtful and insightful. He is always looking for the greater good and how he can get others to see that. He’s a loyal, long-term participant in association events, giving freely of his time and talents.”

Beginnings

Keppel grew up in Delaware, the youngest of six children. “We went camping a lot,” he said. “My uncle and my father helped me learn about trees.” His uncle had a woodlot in upper New York state and Keppel began logging there while he was in junior high. When he was a freshman at the University of Delaware he wrote a paper on how to manage a forest rather than clear cut. “Rachel Carson’s book, ‘Silent Spring’ got me interested in the environment.”

Besides attending classes and working on the university’s woodlots, he had a tree-trimming business. He transferred to Penn State University, graduating in 1976 with a degree in Urban Forestry. He also worked for the National Forest Service in Delaware fighting fires and doing tree planting. “I had two jobs that kept me out of trouble.” While he was dating Nancy, the woman who would become his wife, he had an opportunity to become a smoke jumper in California. “She convinced me of the dangers out there. I’ve done prescribed burns and it is dangerous enough like climbing trees.”

Career Path

His first job in Illinois in 1977 was tree preservation for a 510-acre development in Lake Barrington. He worked for Hendricksen the Care of Trees, (later known as The Care of Trees and then The Davey Tree Expert Company). “In winter, I cross-country skied to do surveys. I had my own skis and snowshoes. I can work down to 20-below and it doesn’t bother me, but I don’t expect other people to work in that weather.” He was district manager in a branch office, and as the company grew in the late 1980’s, he became regional manager and oversaw five offices. “I managed from southern Wisconsin to northern Illinois and I was on the road a lot. I managed the managers and the construction projects where I continued tree preservation. As regional manager, I was involved with the Arbor Day Foundation and traveled to New York city and Washington, D.C. for preservation projects.” But travel gets old, especially for someone who is hyperactive. “I got involved with ILCA and I enjoyed that much more than traveling.”

Keppel served on the ILCA Education and Political Action Committees and was a judge for the Certified Landscape Technician (CLT) program. “I was frustrated by the amount of time it took to educate people. I went head-to-head with the national organization because they said that when we did the CLT training here, if someone failed, they had to leave that test. But I felt like they should get extra help to understand the material. The old hippie in me from the 1970’s said no, so I got on committees to try and change that.”

“Charlie and I served on the Board together,” says Bob Bertog of Bertog Landscape Company. “He was always engaging and providing input on any issues presented to the Board. He was not a ‘yes man’ and would speak his mind. He has donated countless hours of his time to the ILCA and

never hesitates to volunteer, whether it was judging for CLT or providing his insight for many workshops.”

Keppel retired two years ago from The Davey Tree Expert Company, but continues to consult for the firm. “I’ve trained new arborists and provided some direction. I get to pick what projects I like, which is nice. They’re good people.”

Training and Safety

The most challenging part of his career has been observing turnover. “It’s seeing people who look at the green industry as just a step, especially our college graduates who want to advance to management in 12 to 18 months. They don’t have the patience to understand and get to know the field staff. I looked at it as a career back in the 70’s. It’s hard, especially with men ages 18 to 30 who think they’re invincible. We have a fair amount of women at Davey and they are very safety conscious.”

Working as an arborist has changed since Keppel joined the field. “When I first started, people were drinking on the job. Once the requirements for drug and alcohol tests were in place, we lost a significant amount of our work force, but it was for the better.” It’s not unusual for him to stop someone in the field who is not wearing safety gear. “If I see a contractor doing it wrong, like not wearing safety glasses, I’ll give him mine with my card. The only major accidents I had from work were people hitting my car.”

What about the future? “I think the arborist industry is going to be utilizing more specialized equipment to make it safer, but we need to continue proper training on the equipment to be safe. Basically when using a crane, if you’re topping a tree you take a big piece and if it’s an accident it’s going to be a big accident. So having checks and balances is important both in the tree and in the landscape.”

Champion for Conservation

A founding member of Chicago Wilderness Corporate Council, Keppel served along with television anchorman Bill Kurtis. “He practiced what he preached. He did a lot for the environment in Chicagoland. We have woodlands, prairie and savanna that you don’t see in other parts of the world.”

Volunteering with the Boy Scouts of America, Keppel was a cubmaster, an assistant boy scout master and then a commissioner for the Scout’s Northwest Suburban Council, which served youth in the 34 communities. “Then I became the conservation specialist for the camps and put together a plan.” When the Boy Scouts were selling their camps, Keppel met with the McHenry County Conservation District, which purchased the 160-acre Camp Lakota. He shared his landscape ecology plan with the group. “They’ve done a great job and picked up a lot of ecologically sensitive areas.”

“He’s a wealth of experience and a great example of an arborist,” Rosborough said. “I’d consider him one of our quiet heroes because he works without any fanfare or drama.”

Family, Faith and Community Four years ago, Keppel had what he calls “a little scare” with pancreatic cancer. “I was down for a while and it took time to recuperate.” The cancer is in remission. “I believe God has something more for me to do.” Now semi-retired — he does consulting 5 to 10 hours a week — he serves on the board of the Barrington Area Conservation Trust. “We’re creating an oak savanna and planting three-foot-tall oaks in what was a soybean field, then a prairie. We bring in high school students, scouts and Rotarians for workdays and Oaktoberfest.”

He donated a serviceberry tree to his church to honor Covid victims. “I’ve been a church elder for at least 10 years and a trustee for 25. My wife is a deacon there and my sons grew up in the church. It created a good environment for them.” His sons — Andrew and Adam — are both arborists who work in Illinois.

Now that he has more time, Keppel enjoys spending it with family. When he was working full time, he’d have breakfast and be out the door before his wife or sons were awake. “I’m spending more time with my wife because she’s been so supportive over the years. I’m not racing around before and after we go somewhere to make sure everything is ready when I leave and there’s no to do list on the return.” He enjoys vacationing with his family, including three grandchildren, where they spend time together outdoors.

“As an arborist, his specialty is a subset of the general ILCA membership and he has always been able to look at the bigger picture,” Hursthouse said. “He works for the good of our entire industry and demonstrates the belief that a rising tide raises all ships. Congrats Charlie!”