Leonard Franckowiak, 68, president and founder of The BrickKicker Home Inspection Company, passed away today at home in Downers Grove. On several occasions over the years, Mr. Franckowiak was awarded “Man of the Year” for his contributions and achievements in various civic endeavors. He is the founder of the Foundation for Freedom and, for many years, did a radio commentary on behalf of Liberty. Several of his articles on the subject appeared in prestigious journals and he was selected for the editorial board of Channel Seven, where his commentary was oftentimes heard.
After receiving his B.S.B.A. from Northwestern, Mr. Franckowiak began his entrepreneurial career as a partner in Franckowiak Builders, a firm initially involved in the construction of single family homes. His design experiences soon expanded to include restaurants and banquet halls, medical centers and shopping plazas, bank and office buildings, factories, warehouses and truck terminals. His land development experiences include single family and apartment house complexes and, as a result of one development, a public park bears his name.
Mr. Franckowiak developed both the standards of new home construction and the code of ethics for the South Side Builders Association and served as its president and, in addition, helped initiate the South Side Builders Association Home Show.
As a businessman, consultant and entrepreneur, Mr. Franckowiak was instrumental in the creation of many new businesses: he formed a new bank, assisted in starting an auto dealership, several auto repair centers and many real estate investment groups.
In 1980, he founded the Home Building Institute, a school designed to teach home construction and renovation. He has designed and taught courses in home construction, analysis, and old house renovation, as well as 32 different hands-on workshops covering almost every aspect of construction. The accomplishments of the Home Building Institute brought front page articles in the Chicago Tribune and feature articles in the Chicago Sun-Times. He has also appeared as a construction expert in many forums, including Channel 26, WGN and WLS radio.
As an extension of his background as builder-developer, construction teacher and consultant, Mr. Franckowiak started the BrickKicker Inspection Services in 1988, a home inspection firm with franchises in 15 states. He remained actively involved on a daily basis in his firm until his passing.
(Judy wrote this and we emailed it to the Chicago Tribune
for their consideration.)