Sometimes, in life, you meet an outstanding person who again, once again, restores your faith in humanity.
Sometimes that person had resided in the neighborhood of San Souci and you learn that so much was lost during the 1996 Aurora flood, such as all his yearbooks from Marmion Academy in Aurora and the University of Notre Dame, all destroyed in the flood. Guy V. Prisco was graduated cum laude from Notre Dame in 1953.
Sometimes an ordinary June day becomes special by just meeting the man and hearing his stories and seeing his photographs, and meeting his wife, Shirley. They were married August 12, 1953 and they brought eight children into the world. Now they enjoy their five grandchildren.
The cloth from which Guy Vincent (Gaetano…named after his grandfather who came to USA through Ellis Island and was a stone mason in California), Prisco was cut was one of finest quality and enduring worth. An extraordinary and exceptional Catholic man who took Architect Engineer Student of the Year in 1953, Grand Marshal City of Aurora Fourth of July Parade in 1991, and whose firm built the Eola Library Center and won the Recreation Facilities Design Award.
My initial intent was to interview Guy V. Prisco for the Fox Valley Park District 75th anniversary book with a 2022 release which I had begun to write. Guy began his career in 1961 at age 31 as a principal in establishing his own architectural firm which he led for 39 years before retiring in 2000. Guy had served in the U.S. Army for two years stationed in Germany. (Company C, 18 Engineer Battalion).
The Prisco Serena Sturm Architects of Aurora and Northbrook awards and buildings reflect the Fox Valley area and include Our Lady of Mercy Church, St. Peter Church, Marmion Abbey Church, North Island Civic Center Complex, Kane County Jail and Sheriff’s building complex, Fox Metro Office Building in Montgomery and Waubonsee Community’s downtown Aurora campus, Waubonsee’s Bodie Hall and Computer Center, both in Sugar Grove.
His firm has received design awards from NEIAIA and IFRAA.
His personal crowning achievement is his 25 years service as a Board member and nine-year presidency of the Fox Valley Park District. His friend, Frank Miller, said “Guy Prisco is a man of high integrity and great vision. His word is his bond.” In February 1990 the community center in McCullough Park, along the Fox River in Aurora, was named the Guy V. Prisco Community Center. Guy was a member of the Aurora Planning Commission representing the Park District for seven years. He retired from the Park Board in December 1989.
Guy has said “If you compare the Park District to a business, then this is a beautiful business to be in. You’re dealing with beautiful things that make people happy.” He has said that McCullough Park is his favorite. “I am sure that its relationship with the Fox River has a lot to do with my liking it so. It even has some really old oak trees and an old ginkgo tree. It just has a nice feel,” he said.
“Guy Prisco is not afraid to take a stand on important issues, especially those that pertain to use of public land by people,” said the late Al McCoy, Aurora’s mayor, 1965 to 1977. “He will speak his mind, but he will also always be a gentleman about it.”
Prisco’s commitment to high religious and social values extends to his active involvement in community service. He has served as past president of Aurora Catholic Social Services a member of the Illinois State Board of Regents, a member of the Fox Valley Park District’s Veterans’ Memorial Advisory Committee and a member of the Fox Valley Park District Development advisory board. He has served as a member of the City of Aurora Riverwalk Commission and the Aurora downtown Design Review Committee. He was involved in strategic planning for Holy Angles Parish.
September 21, 2003, Guy gave remarks on the re-dedication of the Prisco Center and remarked that “We should pause from our fast-paced lifestyle to take time to reflect on our achievements and the meaningful stories behind them. We should do this not for self-laudatory reasons, but because in doing so we build up and pass on the sense of history and shared memory that are so vital to inspiring generations to value and expand the vision of those who have proceeded them.”
In 2022 we will celebrate the Fox Valley Park District’s 75th anniversary and it is because of men and women leaders who have made this date possible, men such as Guy Vincent Prisco.