Peter Huizenga, 79, investor, philanthropist, former president of Waste Management Inc.

Longtime Oak Brook resident and businessman Peter Huizenga, 79, died Wednesday.

Huizenga moved to Oak Brook in 1984 after spending the previous 17 years as a Western Springs resident.

“He cared very much about Oak Brook and will be sorely missed,” former Village President Kevin Quinlan said Friday. “He was someone who you might not agree with on how he got something done, but he always gave you a chance to say your side of things.”

Huizenga was a former president of Waste Management, Inc., a business started by him and family members, which was sold in 1998, reportedly for about $19 billion.

After Waste Management was sold, Huizenga started Huizenga Capital Management, a business he maintained in a fifth-floor office on York Road in Oak Brook.

“I was the trustee of a family trust; I handled the investments and management of the trust,” Huizenga said in a 2013 interview with The Doings. “I started with a secretary and an accountant, and we’ve grown as we have expanded our investments to others. The family is the largest investor in every opportunity. Everybody around here is smarter than I am, and that makes me smile.”

While Huizenga had considerable financial success, he said that was not his top priority.

“My goal is not to make money, but to create a better world,” he said in the 2013 interview. “My first priority is my family. I want them to succeed, not only in business, but also as people. I want them to be takers.”

Huizenga was recognized in 2017 by Timothy Christian Schools as Distinguished Alumnus of the Year.

“I have often said that Peter Huizenga is Timothy’s dearest friend,” wrote Matt Davidson, Timothy Christian Schools superintendent, in May 2017. “His passion for our school is observable in so many ways, givers; not and it is truly authentic. He deeply respects our history and traditions, yet is constantly pressing forward as a change agent for the betterment of Timothy Christian Schools. He is a man of strong conviction and Biblical wisdom, and his enthusiasm for life is contagious. Peter is a leader and a winner. He is a man after God’s own heart.”