Angelo "Sam" Anselmo Ciambrone - 95

Chicago Heights, Illinois

Angelo (Sam) was born Angelo Anselmo Ciambrone, the second child of Angelo and Rose nee Mazza Ciambrone on October 16, 1929 in Chicago Heights, Illinois, a city in which he lived his entire life and to which he was devoted. He was the only boy sandwiched between sister Mary (Ciambrone) Gasbarro (a scant one year older) and Eva (Ciambrone) Wilczynski (deceased) (five years his junior).
These are the “statistics” of his life: he married Jean (Del Guidice) Ciambrone in 1962, and was a wonderful father to Gregory Angelo and Rosanne, a second father to his extraordinary daughter-in-law Tamara (Janssen) Ciambrone, the most doting grandfather to Teresa (Ciambrone) Rodriguez (Paul) and Anna Ciambrone and great grandfather to his namesake Marco Angelo Rodriguez. He was an uncle to: Stan Wilczynski, Michael Wilczynski, Paul Wilczynski (deceased), Susan (Wilczynski) Graj, Barb Scanlon, Bob Coscarelli, Janet Gasbarro (deceased), Angela Kylochko and Tony Gasbarro. He was brother-in-law to Stanley Wilczynski (deceased), Tony Gasbarro (deceased), Doris Del Guidice (deceased) and Nick Del Guidice. He was a very special friend to his next-door neighbor who had Down’s syndrome, Guy Petrarca (deceased), who was like a second son to him.
Then there are the accomplishments of his life: He attended Franklin Grade School, Washington Junior High School and Bloom High School Class of 1947. Angelo attended DePaul University and the University of Notre Dame (B.S. 1951 and J.D. 1954 at DePaul). Upon graduating from law school, he served in the U.S. Army Training Intelligence Unit until 1956 stationed in Presidio of San Francisco. He was a lawyer in Chicago Heights from 1956 until his retirement at the age of 94 on June 30, 2024.
Angelo’s community involvement was legendary:
He was a Director of the Italian Sons and Daughters of America, President of Italo-American National Union, Director of First National Bank of Chicago Heights, Director of Great Banc, President of Chicago Heights Symphony Orchestra, Board Member Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, President of Kiwanis Club of Chicago Heights, Advisory Board Member South Star Services, advisor to Illinois Migrants Council, member of the Illinois Racing Board, President of the Charles E. Gavin Memorial Foundation, Board Member Union Street Gallery, member of Kiwanis Club of Chicago Heights, member of Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America Chicago Heights Lodge #1430, Amaseno Lodge #3, Marchegiana Society, member of Knights of Columbus, Secretary of the Board of Fire and Police Commissioners of the City of Chicago Heights, Chairman of the Selective Service Local Board No. 33, and served as legal counsel to the Library Boards in Chicago Heights, Matteson and Richton Park. He was the co-host of Ciao South Suburbia, a WGCO radio show, for 15 years along with Dominic Candeloro and the late Justice Anthony Scariano, who were all ably assisted by Guy Petrarca.
He was elected to the Bloom High School Hall of Fame, was selected as the David Award recipient by the Italo American National Union in 2001, and the recipient of the Leonardo DaVinci Award of Excellence for Community Leadership from the Order of the Sons and Daughters of Italy in America in 2014.
He was a life-long resident and had an enduring love for the City of Chicago Heights. He was Mayor of the City from 1995-2003 and accomplished much. His administration stressed rebirth of the older parts of town, the industrial development of State Street, and greater citizen participation through volunteer committees, such as the Historic Preservation, Beautification, and Community Relations committees and the Citizens Police Academy. His administration celebrated the diversity of the city, including the annual Martin Luther King Day observance, diversity dinners, and Polish, Mexican and Italian Day events. He created and maintained sister city relations with San Benedetto, Italy, Cedral, Mexico and Wadowice, Poland. His mayoral appointments included the first Mexican-American City Clerk, the first female City Treasurer and the first African-American Police Chief. He revamped hiring practices and enormously increased the percentage of minorities in the Fire and Police Departments. In addition, after a long hiatus of previous inactivity by the City, he aggressively pursued and completed the sale of Lake Michigan water to the villages of South Chicago Heights and Ford Heights. Long before becoming Mayor, he was instrumental in ushering in the aldermanic form of government in Chicago Heights to ensure participation of all of its citizens in local government. While Mayor, he served as President, Vice President and Treasurer of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association. As Mayor, his guiding principles were Honesty, Integrity, Fairness, and Justice.
Angelo was an active and faithful member of San Rocco Church, the Italian-American church in Chicago Heights, his entire life, He was lector at the early Italian mass on Sundays for decades. In 1990, Cardinal Joseph Bernardin decided to close three Chicago Heights parishes, one of which was San Rocco. For the following two years Angelo and August Anzelmo took over 5 trips to the Vatican in Rome to contest the shuttering of San Rocco. Though a Vatican Signatura eventually decided in their favor and ruled that the Cardinal’s action to close the church was in error and the church should be reopened, the Archdiocese of Chicago simply reconvened and closed the church again, this time according to procedures they had ignored the first time around. Still unwilling to accept the closing and demolition of San Rocco in the mid-1990s, Angelo and August did extensive research and discovered a stipulation in Cannon Law that allows an oratory to be opened as a place of worship for a particular community. As a result of Angelo’s tenacity and perseverance, in an amazing about face, the approval for the construction of the oratory was ordered by Cardinal Joseph Bernardin himself. The irony was overwhelming. The very man who contested every effort to spare the old parish became instrumental in and actually issued (one of his final official acts) the decree for the approval of the new oratory. With continued support of the new Cardinal Francis George, Angelo was instrumental in leading a campaign to build and furnish the oratory, which continues to this day to serve the Chicago Heights community.
And, of course, there are his many and varied interests: his love of horse racing, opera, classical music, gardening, his Italian heritage, and cooking (of course, Italian, learned from his mother Rose, and passed down to Gregory, Rosanne, Teresa and Anna).
But in the end, ultimately, he was kind, humble, and a man of great faith-the most we can say of any man.
Angelo is survived by his wife of 62 years, Jean, his daughter Rosanne, his son Gregory, his daughter-in-law Tammy, his granddaughters Teresa (Paul) Rodriguez and Anna and his great-grandson Marco Angelo Rodriguez.
Resting at Panozzo Bros. Funeral Home, 530 W. 14th Street (US Rt. 30, 3 blks E of Western Ave), Chicago Heights, IL on Sunday, January 26, 2025 from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Funeral Monday, January 27, 2025 9:15 am from funeral home to Our Lady of the Heights/St. Agnes Church, 1501 Chicago Road, Chicago Heights, IL. Interment Assumption Cemetery, Glenwood. Info 708-481-9230 and panozzobros.com.
In lieu of flowers, memorials in Angelo’s name to the Jones Memorial Community Center, 220 East 15th Street, Chicago Heights, IL, 60411 (www.jonescenter.org) or the San Rocco Oratory, 16565 South State Street, South Holland, IL, 60473 would be appreciated by the Ciambrone family.