On November 19, the ECCI Civic Hall of Fame Public Memorial was relocated from the Elmhurst Public Library to the lobby of Community Bank of Elmhurst’s downtown Elmhurst branch.
The relocation was handled by College Hunks Hauling Junk & Moving and the cost was covered with a donation to the ECCI Civic Hall of Fame Fund by John Quigley, who served as the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s President and CEO for 25 years (1999-2024) and is the current Secretary of the ECCI Centennial Celebration NFP Board of Directors.
The 65-inch touchscreen TV public memorial had resided in the Elmhurst Public Library since December of 2022—three months after the first Civic HOF website went live as part of the Elmhurst Chamber’s Chamber of Commerce Month promotions that September.
“Thank you to the Elmhurst Public Library for displaying the ECCI Civic Hall of Fame Public Memorial for the past several years, and to Community Bank of Elmhurst for providing its new home at their City Centre location,” stated ECCI President and CEO Jennifer Veremis. “This public memorial honors civic leaders past and present whose foresight and dedication have shaped, and continue to shape, our community.”
Civic HOF website features biographies, photos and videos of the inductees searchable by a master list, last name and induction year. Sections also feature the history of ECCI and the Civic HOF, awards such as the A.J. “Toche” Terrones Business of the Year, Chairman’s Award and Ambassador of the Year, and links to ECCI’s website and Elmhurst Community Directory.
The Elmhurst Chamber established the ECCI Civic Hall of Fame in 1992 to recognize deserving women and men who have made major contributions to the Elmhurst community.
Creation of the ECCI Civic HOF was one of the initiatives of Ralph P. Pechanio during his term as then-President (today Chairman) of the 1992 ECCI Board of Directors.
Criteria include:
Long-standing community influencer;
Significant status within individual profession or service;
Unique associations within the community;
Community recognition; and
General impact of the community.
Joe Newton, legendary boys’ cross country coach at York Community High School, was the inaugural Hall of Fame inductee.
Since the 2010 honoree—four-term Elmhurst Mayor Thomas D. Marcucci—Civic HOF induction ceremonies have been conducted as part of ECCI’s Annual Awards Gala. From 1992 through 2008, inductions were conducted during the Opening Ceremonies of Elmfest, an award-winning community festival showcasing downtown Elmhurst, which began in 1983 as Sample Elmhurst. The 2009 inductee was honored at the Chamber’s Spring Luncheon in April of 2010.
Following Newton, Civic HOF inductees were: Eleanor King Hookam (1993), Elmhurst Art Museum; Dr. Ivan E. Frick (1994), Elmhurst College; Joseph Wagner (1995), York Furrier; Jean Haselhorst (1996), Elmhurst Park District; Robert M. Magnuson (1997), Elmhurst Memorial Hospital; Virginia J. Harmon (1998), Unique Travel Services; Illinois House of Representative Lee A. Daniels (R-46th District) (1999); A.J. “Toche” Terrones (2000), Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry; William C. “Bill” Gooch Jr. (2001), Community Bank of Elmhurst; Willis Johnson (2002), York Theatre; Fred Messerschmidt (2003), Elmhurst Federal Savings & Loan; Jim Van Ewyk (2004), Pfund and Clint Florists; Jacquelyn Haddad (2005), Elmhurst Junior Women’s Club; Thomas O. Myers Jr. (2006), Thomas O. Myers Real Estate; Abner Ganet (2007), Leonard’s Men’s Store and Mayor of Elmhurst; Jan Pauli (2008), Pauli’s Marathon; Bob Schiller (2009), Schiller Real Estate; Thomas D. Marcucci, four-term Mayor of Elmhurst (2010); Rich Grodsky, Elmhurst Park District (2011); Pete Cruger, Elmhurst Independent (2012); Doug Beach, Elmhurst College Jazz Band Director (2013); Betsy Hanisch, Elmhurst businesswomen, civic leader and community volunteer (2014); Ralph Pechanio (2015), retired banker, civic leader and community volunteer; Darrell Whistler, retired businessman, civic leader and community volunteer; Jack Island (2017), Owner of The Silverado Grill; Genie Urick (2018), cable TV producer, author and community volunteer; and William “Bill” Shanklin (2019), Post 187 Sergeant-at-Arms; Scott and Charity Ahlgrim (2020) of Ahlgrim Funeral Home; Dr. Bryant and Jeanette Cureton (2021), former EC President and First Lady, John DeVries (2022), Founder of DeVries Animal Hospital, Dan Gibbons (2023) of the Dan Gibbons Turkey Trot Foundation and Ken Bartels (2024), Senior Vice President and Director at Community Bank of Elmhurst since 2009 and Owner/Principal of Ken Bartels Consulting.