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222 W Merchandise Mart Plaza
Chicago, IL, 60654
312-380-9883
Chicago's honorary brown street signs, days, and commemorative honors; the who, what, where, when and why. Honorary Chicago guide book, maps, biographies, history, trivia, tours, and gifts.
Filtering by Tag: 2020
Ward: 1
Alderman: La Spata
Neighborhood: Logan Square
Dolores
b. October 29, 1931
d. June 26, 2020
Phil Doran, Sr. was a life-long Chicagoan from the Beverly neighborhood. He and his wife met in grade school. He was a lawyer and was active in his community and parish as a committed volunteer and former Chairman of the Board of the Franciscan Outreach.
Alumni:
Christ the King Elementary School and Parish
St. Ignatius High School
John Carroll University
Northwestern University - Law
Born in Chicago
Ward: 19
Alderman: O’Shea
Neighborhood: Beverly
b. November 6, 1940. Chicago
d. September 18, 2020. Age 79.
Near
Christ the King Church
Leon Lederman was a Nobel Prize winning Physicist, for his team discovery of the Muon Neutrino. In 1979 he became the Director of the Fermi National Accelerator Lab and built the Tevatron, the world’s highest-energy particle accelerator. He was a professor at the University of Chicago and at the Illinois Institute of Technology, a board member of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, and the Illinois Math and Science Academy
Alumni
Columbia University, PhD Physics
City College of New York, Chemistry
Nobel Prize 1988
Veteran: U.S. Army, WWII, 2nd Lieutenant, Signal Corp
Ward: 3
Alderman: Dowell
Neighborhood: IIT
b. July 15, 1922. New York City
d. October 3, 2018. Age 96. Idaho
Near
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)
Betty Price ran a soup kitchen in the Englewood neighborhood for 30 years. She founded Feed, Clothe, and Help the Needy (FCHN) in 1988, originally running it out of her own home; it now feeds more than 1000 each week.
West Elizabeth Street from 57th Street to 59th Street
Ward: 19
Alderman: Coleman
Neighborhood: Englewood
d. September 2, 2020. Age 71. Chicago. Cancer
Near
Feed, Clothe and Help the Needy soup kitchen
1234 West 59th Street
Janari Ricks was a 9-year old child who was the unintended victim of a shooting. The gunman fired into a group of adults and children in the Cabrini rowhouses.
Ward: 27
Alderman: Burnett
Neighborhood: Cabrini Green
d. July 31, 2020
Near
Cabrini Rowhouses
Terrence Collins was a retired Battalion Chief in the Chicago Fire Department. He had a 37-year career as a firefighter. He was always willing be of service and to help someone in need. He was awarded the highest honor awarded by the City of Chicago, the Lambert Tree Medal in 1981 for saving the lives of two children from a fire.
Alumni
St. Gabriel’s Elementary School
Tilden High School
Veteran: Navy, airplane mechanic
Awards: Lambert Tree Medal from the City of Chicago
Ward: 23
Alderman: Tabares
Neighborhood: Garfield Ridge
Revised: November 2020
b. March 4, 1943
d. August 2, 2020. Age 77
In 1934 Italian immigrants to Chicago started a social organization after the patron saint ot their town of origin, Cinisi, Italy. The Santa Fara society expanded to chapters in New York and Detroit.
Ward: 38
Alderman: Sposato
Neighborhood: Dunning
Near
Society Santa Fara di Cinisi
7524 W. Addison Street
Source
Honorary Street Sign Dedication - October 3, 2020 in Chicago
Ward: 30
Alderman: Reboyras
Neighborhood: Polish Village
Dedicated: October 3, 2020
Near
Polish Heritage Center Building
5835 W. Diversey Avenue
Reverend Homer Gardner was the pastor of the Sun Rise Missionary Baptist Church. After serving in the Army, he moved to Chicago in 1957 and was an active member of the Church including Sunday School teacher, choir, treasurer, and Deacon. Until his retirement in 2000, he had a career as a metallurgist in the metals and steel industry. Homer was called to the ministry in 1977. He served as Pastor of Sun Rise Baptist Church from 1978 until his retirement in 2016.
Alumni
Army Academy
Illinois Institute of Technology, Metalurgy
LaSalle Extension University, Law
Carolina University of Theology, Masters
Veteran: Army
Ward: 28
Alderman: Ervin
Neighborhood: West Garfield Park
b. July 29, 1937 in Mississippi, Tallahatchie County
d. March 23, 2019
Near
Sun Rise Baptist Church
351 S. Kilbourn Avenue
Source
For fourty-seven years, Edward Schmit was the owner of the Teddy Bear Day Care, which grew to six centers in the Southwest Chicago area including Little Bear for infants and the Big Bear Day Camp program. He was on the board of directors of the St. Rita High School (his Alma Mater), and the Valentine Boys & Girls Club. Ed had retired from the Continental Can Company where he worked in facilities. He had been a benefactor to the Gage Park baseball and to the neighborhood throughout his life; Ed grew up in Gage Park, and where he and his wife raised their five children.
Alumni
St. Rita’s High School, 1963
It‘s with sadness that we announce the passing of St. Rita graduate and longtime member of the St. Rita Board of Directors, Mr. Ed J. Schmit Jr. '63. Our condolences go to the entire Schmit family.
— St. Rita Chicago (@StRitaHS) July 22, 2020
Ed truly was a Ritaman and his love and support of St. Rita will live on forever pic.twitter.com/C8IW10wq2k
Ward: 14
Alderman: Burke
Neighborhood: Gage Park
b.March 30, 1945
d. July 2020. Age 75
Near
Teddy Bear Day Care
2649 W 51st St
Lena was a 10 year old girl who was watching television with her brother in their grandmother’s apartment when a stray bullet came through the window and killed her. She was the innocent victim of gang violence a block away. A vigil was held by the community the next day.
The releasing of the white balloons pic.twitter.com/FzbEFoeZKI
— Mina Bloom (@mina_bloom_) June 30, 2020
Police have made an arrest in the shooting death of 10-year-old Lena Nunez, who was visiting her grandmother in Logan Square in late June when shew as shot i...
Ward: 35
Alderman: Ramirez-Rosa
Neighborhood: Logan Square
b. September 7, 2009
d. June 28, 2020. Age 10. Chicago
Ramona Marquitta Rouse owned and operated the Salon Pastiche in the Rogers Park neighborhood for 23 years. She supported local artists through Sungold Pastiche, the Roman Susan Art Foundation has a tribute art installation at the salon. Ramona was born in Chicago in the Old Town neighborhood, and grew up in in the early scattered site public housing integrated in Lincoln Square. She easily befriended her customers and neighbors and was well regarded in the community.
Alumni
Immaculate Conception Grammar School
Lincoln Park High School
National Lewis University
Pivot Point Academy
Dignity Memorial: Tribute video
Ward: 49
Alderman: Haddon
Neighborhood: Rogers Park
b. September 15. Chicago
d. January 4, 2020. Chicago
Near
Salon Pastiche 1226 W. Loyola Avenue
Deputy U.S. Marshall Roy Frakes was one of two law officers killed in the line of duty in the attempted escape of a prisoner from the Dirksen U.S. Courthouse building in the Loop. He posthumously received the Marshals Service’s highest honor, and an air operations hanger in Oklahoma City was named in his honor at the Will Rogers Airport.
Ward: 42
Alderman: Reilly
Neighborhood: Loop
d. July 20, 1992. Age 30.
David Daniel Clay was the pastor at the Maryland Avenue Baptist Church, which he moved and renamed from the Central Avenue Baptist Church. He was born in Louisiana and spent high school in Texas before moving to Chicago and attending the Moody Bible Institute. Reverend Doctor received many invitations to preach, including one from a large Baptist congregation in Hong Kong.
His motto was: “Every saved soul is saved to help saved souls!”
Alumni:
Southern University (Baton Rouge)
Northern Baptist Theological Seminary
Moody Bible Institute
Ward: 8
Alderman: Harris
Neighborhood: Chatham
b. 1913. Lousiana
d. April 2, 1972.
Source
Neftali “Buzzo” Reyes was 19 years old, he graduated with honors from Roberto Clemente High School in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. He was a star athlete and an outstanding sportsman for the Wildcats. It was his dream to be a Major League Baseball Pitcher. Neftali was on a full scholarship at Claflin University in South Carolina. He was at home in Chicago for the holidays and recovering from a sports injury when a stranded friend called in need of a ride late one night. Neftali became the innocent victim of a shooting.
Alumni:
Roberto Clemente Community Academy High School
Ward: 26
Alderman: Maldonado
Neighborhood: Humboldt Park
b. May 3, 1998. Chicago
d. December 29, 2017. Age 19.
Lewis Thorpe was the basketball coach at North Lawndale College Prep, who led the team to the 2008 state Championship. He was demanding and firm, and highly respected as a coach.
Ward: 26
Alderman: Scott
Neighborhood: Lawndale
d. Age 56
Army Specialist Henry “Mitch” Mayfield, Jr., from south suburban Hazel Crest, was killed in the line of duty during an al-Shabab militant group attack on Manda Bay Airfield, a U.S. base in Kenya, which killed two others and damaged six aircraft. He served as part of field operations for Operation Octave Shield, which carried out intelligence gathering and air strikes on Somalia.
Mayfield was a dynamic soldier who inspired those he served with to excel both on and off duty. The 164th Theater Airfield Operations Group will miss his leadership and camaraderie.
- Col. William Garber
Alumni:
Hillcrest High School
Northern Illinois University
Veteran: Army SPC, died serving in Kenya in 2020. Operation Octave Shield
Ward: 16
Alderman: Coleman
Neighborhood: Englewood
b. October 14, 1996
d. January 5, 2020
Age 23.
John Prine was a Grammy Award winning singer and songwriter. His style was humorous social commentary country folk music. He had worked as a letter carrier and in the 1970s performed weekly in local Chicago club, the Fifth Peg, when Roger Ebert wrote a glowing review in the Chicago Sun-Times which launched John’s folk music career. Since then many famous singers such as: Johnny Cash, Bette Middler, and Bonnie Raitt, and George Strait have recorded his songs. Since 1981 his son, Jody Whelan, has run John’s independent record and publishing company, Oh Boy Records. John Prine was posthumously named an honorary poet laureate of the State of Illinois in 2020. He died in Nashville at age 73 from complications of the COVID-19 virus.
Veteran: U.S. Army in Germany
Ward: 43
Alderman: Smith
Neighborhood: Lincoln Park
b. October 10, 1946. Maywood, IL
d. April 7, 2020. Nashville, TN
Age 73
* Amended location 2021
Suellen Long was a long time resident and advocate for the Uptown neighborhood and founder of her own public relations firm. She became the president of the Bridgeview Bank which had long been the center of development and social service agencies for the Uptown neighborhood, in particular, many groups of asian immigrants settled in the area. Her first involvement with the historic bank building was as part of the team which rehabilitated it, in the 1960s, after a long period of decline, The building was sold again in 2019 and will become residences. Suellen was also very involved with local charities and the Peterson-McCormick Boys & Girls Club. In 2004 she was featured in the business section of the Chicago Tribune.
Alumni:
Plymouth High School (Indiana)
St, Mary’s of the Woods
Ward: 46 and 48
Alderman: Cappleman and Osterman
Neighborhood: Uptown
b. January 17, 1942. Plymouth, Indiana
d. March 24, 2020. Age 78
Michael Gonzalez was the founder and CEO of Maestros Ventures, an Engineering Services firm in Chicago. He served as President of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers - Chicago Chapter; President of the Hispanic American Construction Industry Association (HACIA); Member of the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board; Vice Chairman of the Illinois Legislative Caucus Foundation; and Trustee on the Board of PBS Station WTTW, Channel 11.
Born in Chicago
Alumni
Holy Family Grammar School, Chicago
St. Ignatius High School
University of Illinois at Chicago, Engineering School
Ward: 25
Alderman: Byron Sigcho-Lopez
Neighborhood: Pilsen
d. July 8, 2019. Age 63.