DeKalb park to be renamed to honor donor

DeKALB – A park in southwest DeKalb is finally about to get the name it deserves.

On Saturday, a ceremony will be held at Devonaire Farm Park to officially change its name to Wright Farm Park, named after the Dorothy Thiele Wright, who donated a 173-acre farm to the DeKalb County Community Foundation in 1995.

“Renaming Devonaire Farms Park … seemed to the foundation to be an appropriate step to publicly thank the family,” DeKalb Park District Executive Director Amy Doll said in a news release.

Doll said Dorothy and Rodney Wright’s only descendant is Patti Wright Cronin, who lives in Wisconsin, and that conversations with her began in 2015 as to how to best publicly acknowledge the family’s contributions.

The Wrights were longtime DeKalb residents. Rodney Wright died in 1985, and about 10 years later, Dorothy green-lighted the donation of the land in the Knolls and Devonaire Farm subdivisions. The foundation sold the land between September and December 1998, and the funds generated through the sale were about $1.9 million, according to the release. The foundation’s board of directors has used the fund to distribute about $1.1 million grants since 1997, and the fund’s balance is still about $1.3 million.

The park district voted in April to change the park’s name.

The ceremony will be from 10:30 to 11:15 a.m., with brief remarks at 10:45 a.m. Refreshments will be served, and the new sign will be unveiled.