SERVICE INFORMATION:

Charles Sullivan Lencioni

Visitation: Friday, July 16 from 3:00-8:00 pm at the Malone Funeral Home 324 East State Street (Route 38), Geneva, IL

Service: Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, July 17, at 10:00 am at St. Peter Catholic Church 1891 Kaneville Road, Geneva with Father Martins Emeh Celebrant

Burial Location: Oak Hill Cemetery in Geneva, IL

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Geneva Fire Department 200 East Side Drive, Geneva, IL 60134 or LivingWell Cancer Resource Center 1803 West State Street (Route 38), Geneva, IL 60134

OBITUARY:

Charles Sullivan Lencioni
January 3, 1955 – July 12, 2010

Charles Sullivan “Chuck” Lencioni, 55, Building Commissioner of the City of Geneva and a lifelong Genevan, passed away Monday, July 12, 2010, at Delnor Community Hospital in Geneva, of complications from cancer.

His death came just 15 days after his hometown honored him as Grand Marshal of Geneva/'/s 61st annual Swedish Days Parade, for his lifetime of service to the community.

He was born Jan. 3, 1955, at Community Hospital in Geneva, to Charles W. and Ethel Sullivan Lencioni. He was a 1974 graduate of Geneva Community High School. But even before earning his high school diploma, Mr. Lencioni began building a more-than-40-year career of service to his fellow Genevans – as a firefighter, a restaurateur, a public servant, and a volunteer.

His first job was at age 12 in the kitchen of Geneva/'/s old Venetian Café at Second and State streets – now the site of Old Towne Pub & Eatery – making salads. He began work on the grounds-maintenance staff of Geneva School District 304 in 1972 – and, that fall, took painstaking pride in marking the original Burgess Field gridiron for the first time with professional-grade yard indicators and hash marks.

He joined the Geneva Emergency Services & Disaster Agency (ESDA) in 1972. The next year he joined the Geneva Fire Department as a paid-on-call firefighter, ultimately rising to the rank of Lieutenant of Truck Co. 206. In June, during the department/'/s annual Swedish Days breakfast, he was honored for 30 years of service to the department.

In 1979, he and his parents became partners in Lencionis/'/ Firehouse No. 5, a tavern and restaurant that he operated for the next seven years at 306 W. State St. There, he prepared 100 or more lunches daily from what he called “the world/'/s smallest kitchen,” a tiny grill and counter at one end of the bar. He did so with flamboyance (sometimes singing Sinatra along with the jukebox while standing atop the bar), great good humor and a whimsical wit, preparing menu items such as the “Paramedic Pita Pocket Taco,” and listing a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich for “market price.”

In the early 1980s, Mr. Lencioni helped revive what was then a flagging early-fall Geneva event, Festival of the Vine, by helping conceive and operate the “Flavor Fare,” a “Taste of Geneva”-style array of food specialties offered by dozens of Geneva restaurants. Mr. Lencioni maintained his participation in this annual event on a volunteer basis for more than 20 years after he had left the restaurant business.

In 1986, Mr. Lencioni sold his interest in the tavern back to his parents, and joined the City of Geneva staff as a building inspector. The following year he was named Building Commissioner, a position he held for the next 23 years until his death.

In his City Hall office, Mr. Lencioni emphasized a customer-oriented service culture, versus that of a more traditional government bureaucracy. He promoted this style of code enforcement in his role as secretary for the Illinois Association of Code Enforcement.

And, Mr. Lencioni took it upon himself to perform numerous functions that would generally not fall under the Building Commissioner/'/s purview, including snow shoveling and basic maintenance and repairs, and also coordinating design and construction of two complete renovations of the City Council chambers during his tenure. In addition to that, he was a member of the Fox Valley Fire and Building Inspectors Association (from the time of city hire) as well as a delegate to the Illinois Council of Code Administrators.

Aside from his workdays, Mr. Lencioni also built a lifelong record of community service – through membership in several local service clubs, teaching religious-education classes to students at St. Peter Catholic Church, and volunteering as an assistant scoutmaster for Geneva Boy Scout Troop 37 -- the latter, long after his own two sons had outgrown the troop.

Mr. Lencioni is survived by his wife, Joan Watt Lencioni; his two sons, Michael and Charles John “C.J.,” both of Geneva; their mother, Susan Lencioni of Geneva; two stepsons, Patrick Burns of Chicago and Robert Cannon of Geneva; and two stepdaughters, Kelly Burns of Aurora and Meghan Burns Lietz (Mark) of Roscoe; four grandchildren, Curtis, Timothy, Matthew and David. He is also survived by his mother, Ethel, of Port St. Lucie, Fla.; three brothers, Daniel (Signe) of St. Charles, Scott (Susan) of Swanzey, N.H., and Chris (Angela) of Port Richey, Fla.; one sister, Amy (James) Nunn of St. Charles; and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father in December 2000.

Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, July 17, at 10:00 am at St. Peter Catholic Church 1891 Kaneville Road, Geneva with Father Martins Emeh Celebrant.

Burial will follow at Oak Hill Cemetery in Geneva.

Visitation will be held Friday, July 16 from 3:00-8:00 pm at the Malone Funeral Home 324 East State Street (Route 38), Geneva, IL.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Geneva Fire Department 200 East Side Drive, Geneva, IL 60134 or LivingWell Cancer Resource Center 1803 West State Street (Route 38), Geneva, IL 60134.

For more information visit www.malonefh.com or call 630-232-8233.