John LaPlante, city’s first transportation commissioner, dies after battle with coronavirus
The son of a Cook County judge and the head librarian for Chicago Public Schools, LaPlante was a “municipally-minded” Roseland native who cared deeply about his city and its government, according to his daughter.

By Tom Schuba Updated Mar 22, 2020, 10:24pm CDT

John LaPlante, the former acting commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation, died Saturday after testing positive for the coronavirus. Sun-Times file photo

John LaPlante, a longtime city employee who served as the first commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation, died Saturday at 80 after testing positive for the novel coronavirus less than two weeks earlier.

The son of a Cook County judge and the head librarian for Chicago Public Schools, LaPlante was a “municipally-minded” Roseland native who cared deeply about his city and its government, according to his daughter, Leslie.

LaPlante fell ill shortly after returning from a recent trip to Egypt and Jordan with his wife, Linda, who didn’t contract the virus.

“The thought is that that’s where he picked it up,” according to Leslie, who said he tested positive for COVID-19 on March 17.

As LaPlante fought for his life at Evanston Hospital, tight regulations largely kept his wife and daughter from his bedside. Leslie was finally able to see her father after he was removed from a ventilator Saturday afternoon.

“My mom and I were both able to get protective gear and be with him when he passed away,” said Leslie. “Other than that we weren’t allowed to visit him because he was in isolation.”

For Leslie, it was “bizarre” to watch her father’s health deteriorate as the number of coronavirus cases in the United States rose dramatically.

“I feel like our personal experience actually somewhat reflects how the rest of the people in our country have gradually come to terms with the seriousness of this,” said Leslie.

After graduating from Fenger High School, LaPlante earned degrees from the Illinois Institute of Technology and Northwestern University before enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. When he was discharged as a second lieutenant, LaPlante began working as a traffic engineer for the city in 1965.