Bridgeport’s Sgt. Eric Lill killed in Iraq War 

By Patrick Butler 

The Iraq War came to Bridgeport on a gray Saturday morning, July 14, as a hearse from Midway Airport brought the body of Sgt. Eric Lill, 28, to the Michael Coletta Sons Funeral Home, 544 W. 31st St., as dozens of neighbors lined the route.

Illinois State and Chicago Police and the Patriot Guard Riders, who serve as escorts at funerals of soldiers killed in action, led the cortege along streets lined with flags provided by local developer Anthony DiGrazia.

Lill had been killed a week earlier by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, the first Bridgeport resident to die in the Iraq War and the first Bridgeport serviceman killed in any war since Larry Strum died in Vietnam, according to Ald. James Balcer of the 11th Ward.

“We’re here because we support our troops,” said Richard Morridoni, superintendent of the Cook County Veterans Assistance Commission.

Martin Tully, president of the Windy City Veterans Association and a former Army captain who did a year in Afghanistan, agreed.

“They’re doing a fantastic job over there; they should be allowed to finish,” said Tully, who acknowledged a deep national divide over whether we should be in Iraq but prefers to leave such decisions to experienced military leaders.

Not everyone agreed, of course.

            An older man said that while he respects the sacrifices made by Lill and more than 3,600 other Americans over the past four years, he does not believe the U.S. should have been in Iraq in the first place.

“I don’t want to have to go to any more funerals like this,” he said.

In the end, it is not about Iraq but about the troops, said Balcer, who had himself been a Marine in the equally controversial Vietnam War.

“People have different positions on the war,” Balcer said. “My position has always been that I want the troops home, yes. However, I will leave it to the military commanders on the ground. They understand what’s going on there.”

“I didn’t know much about Sgt. Lill,” said Balcer.  “I heard the news he had died, went to see the family, and learned I went to high school with one of his relatives. And it turned out I knew other people in his family.”

Sgt. Lill was given his stripes, a Purple Heart, and a Silver Star posthumously.

Balcer said he and one of his staff, Eric Wang, went from door to door distributing We Support Our Troops posters and asking people to line the streets as Lill’s body was taken to Coletta’s.

Not that it took much persuading.

“The community rallied together,” said Michael Coletta. “Word spread like wildfire. Even Eric’s babysitter, Melody Leodoro, was there. Connie’s Pizza, whose owner’s grandson went to school with Lill, sent food over to the funeral home, as did the Polo Café.

“Bridgeport has always been one close-knit family,” said Coletta, who has been a funeral director in Bridgeport for the past 45 years.

Among those attending the funeral at St. Mary’s of Perpetual Help, 1039 W. 32nd St., was Mayor Richard M. Daley, who grew up in Bridgeport, and Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn.

“He got a really great military sendoff,” said Coletta.  “I haven’t seen too many funerals like this.”

Ironically, the St. Laurence High School graduate who want on to Marshall University in Huntington, WV, hoping to eventually join the FBI, was rejected for being overweight the first time he tried to join the Army.

He did not let that stop him, however, said Lill’s father, Tony, recalling how his son spent the next four months working out to drop the 50 pounds needed to pass the physical and get into the Army. He was hoping to be a military policeman.

            “By the time he got in, there were no slots in the MPs, so he ended up in the artillery,” Tony Lill said.

After his first Iraq deployment, Eric Lill was sent to Germany to an outfit scheduled for an Iraq tour in six months. Lill transferred to the 2nd Infantry at Ft. Carson, CO, to be closer to his two children, Mikayla, 4, and Cody, 6, but ended up back in Baghdad as a gunner with a unit that trained Iraqi police.

Lill and his wife divorced in March, several months into that second deployment.

Tony Lill said his son often complained that “nothing’s happening. It’s boring,” in an apparent effort to keep the family from worrying.

“I knew he was in harm’s way just by being over there, but I never knew it was this bad a harm’s way,” Tony Lill said.

 

Near West Sider Stanley “Stash” Ferdinardo dies at 87

Stanley “Stash” Ferdinardo died June 7 at age 87.

            A Near West Sider, he was the husband of the late Mary “Shoes” (nee DeLaurentis), father of Ralph (Sherye), Angela (William) Ciccia, Nick (Theresa), Madeline, Stanley Jr. (Adriana), and Thomas (Carol). He also had 12 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. He was the brother of Florence (the late Russell) Rufino, the late Lucy (the late Raymond) Colliver, Carmen, Genevieive (the late Edward) Cody, Philip (the late Shirley), Anthony (the late Marianne) and Madeline (the late William) Kinsella. He also was uncle to several nieces and nephews.

            Known as a man of few words, Mr. Ferdinardo was a carpenter who worked on many buildings in the Near West Side community.

            “My grandfather was the most honest and hardworking man I know,” said grandson Ernest Mategrano. “He loved to eat pasta and drink his wine at dinner. He was a proud man, and he liked going to the club and hanging out with his friends and talking about the good old days. My grandfather also put his family first and thought it was the most important thing there was in life. He left six children he loved very much. He was very proud of each one of them.”

            Mr. Ferdinardo’s wake was at Salerno’s Galewood Chapels, his funeral Mass was held at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, and he is interred at Mt. Carmel Cemetery.

 

Mae Giovacchini of Heart of Chicago Dies at 84

Mae "Manon" Giovacchini, known as the Jane Addams of the Heart of Chicago area because of her assistance to Italian immigrants, died July 8 at 84.

                Mrs. Giovacchini lived on the same block all her life near 24th Street and Oakley Avenue. She was known for helping immigrants by showing them the area, acting as a translator, bringing them food, and helping them get their utilities connected. She also made baby blankets and pasta sauce and gave them away.

                One of nine children, she graduated from Pickard Grammar School and Harrison High School. She was married to Marino Giovacchini for 49 years until he died in 1996. The couple had three daughters, Carole, Linda, and Paula. Mrs. Giovacchini worked for 30 years at Illinois Molding and Ryerson Steel. She finally visited Italy for the first time at the age of 78.

                A longtime member of St. Michael's Church, she more recently was a member of Holy Rosary Church. She also belonged to the Italian Catholic Federation.