Long time Schererville resident and business owner Fred F. Raab was a passionate taxpayer advocate.
“He was adamant about taxes, about getting treated right,” his son Carl Raab said. “He used to remonstrate in Schererville at all the budget hearings and challenge the refuge fees on the water bills. Everything was based on principle.”
Unhappy with the property assessment process, Raab ran for Lake County Assessor in 1966.
A licensed Realtor in Indiana and Illinois, Raab owned Schererville’s Fred F. Raab Real Estate.
He built many homes in Schererville in the 50’s through the late 80’s.
Raab, 91, was a Realtor into his 70’s.
“I remember riding with dad all over the region on Saturdays listing and selling houses,” his son Don Raab said.
A U.S. Army veteran of World War II, Raab, rose to rank of sergeant. His tour took him through England, Belgium and France and he was awarded a marksman medal.
An avid fisherman of Canadian waters, he enjoyed the catch of a big Northern Pike or Walleye. He would travel there twice a year to fish.
“Through the years he dropped a line in Ontario’s Lac Seul, Manitoba’s Flin Flon Lakes and at Saskatchewan’s Three Jan Lakes, traveling as far north as the 56th parallel on a fly in,” Don Raab said.
A former U.S. Steel employee in the Merchant Mill, Raab liked ballroom dancing, dabbling in the stock market, garage sales, auctions and buying and selling items at local flea markets.
Carl Raab said he will miss being able to talk to his dad about family history, and pick his brain about the old days because he grew up during the depression.
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