Frank H Paschen

Bud Paschen founded his company in 1975, but the family name has been linked to Chicago construction ever since the Great Fire of 1871, when his great-grandfather Christian, a German immigrant from Mecklenburg, used his tuckpointing skills to help rebuild the charred city. Subsequent generations of Paschens had a hand in creating Senn High School, Navy Pier, the Chicago Theatre and the Carbide & Carbon Building, an art deco gem refashioned into the Hard Rock Hotel Chicago. They helped build the Thompson Center, the Dirksen Federal Building and the new McCormick Place. They also straightened out the treacherous “S” curve on Lake Shore Drive. His own company’s projects include the Deep Tunnel, Midway Airport, the 2012 reconstruction of Wacker Drive and courtroom improvements at the Dirksen federal building. He died of a respiratory problem Monday December 12 2016 at his home in Jupiter, Florida. Bud started in construction as a teen, working for Paschen Contractors, a company owned by his father and uncles, including Buzz Paschen, who married prima ballerina assoluta Maria Tallchief. He grew up in Evanston and attended Evanston Township High School and Northwestern University, Blair said, earning a civil engineering degree in 1959. Mr. Paschen is survived by his wife Dianne; daughters Debora, Jeanne, Mary and Elisabeth; his stepsons, Tony and Paul; his son Frank; and Daniel, a Ghanian minister whom he sent to college and considered his adopted son; a sister, LaVerne Finney; 22 grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.