Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
The Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans is proud to announce that Sergio Giangrande will serve as the Chairman of the 2017 Columbus Day Parade. Young, energetic, skilled and committed to his heritage, Sergio is the perfect person for the position.
The son of Vito and Rosalia (Zummo) Giangrande, Sergio was born in Chicago but moved with his parents to Italy when he was 3 months old. The family returned back to America when Sergio was 8, settling in Schiller Park.
A master baker, Sergio’s dad also worked in construction and his mother worked as a seamstress while they raised a family that had grown to include Sergio’s brothers, Alessandro and Dave.
Armed with his parent’s drive and integrity, Sergio graduated from high school and immediately entered the work force, taking a job as an arbitration clerk at the Mercantile Exchange while studying to become a mortgage adviser.
In 2001, he was hired by a mortgage company and began working toward being the residential mortgage adviser he is today. Now at Peoples Home Equity, a residential lending company with 60 locations across the country, he is a senior mortgage adviser handling loans ranging from hundreds of thousand to millions of dollars.
Thanks to the work ethic he inherited from his parents, Sergio has emerged as one of PHE’s top mortgage originators. His company has presented him with its President’s Club Award, CHICAGO AGENT Magazine has named him to its “Who’s Who” in 2017, CHICAGO magazine has named him a five-star mortgage professional for three years running and he is a five-star lender on Zillow.
Married in 2009, Sergio and his wife, Lisa (Campobasso), live in Oak Brook with their two young daughters, Gabriella and Giulia. Being a supportive husband and a dedicated father has been a dream come true for Sergio. “There’s nothing like being a father and experiencing that smile on your child’s face,” Sergio says.
Family and culture are extremely important to Sergio. “I love the U.S.A., I love what it stands for, but I love Italy as well,” he says. “Those roots run very deep.”
Sergio cherishes his family’s traditional Italian Sunday dinners and Christmas and Easter celebrations, and he looks forward to the St. Joseph Tables staged each year at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church.
Sergio is bringing that same passion to bear on the Columbus Day Parade.
“Being named Parade Chairman is one of my proudest personal accomplishments,” he says. “It’s the biggest event in the Italian American community and I plan on working extremely hard to make it as successful as possible.”
Columbus Day festivities will begin with a 9 a.m. Mass on Oct. 10 at the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony in Arrigo Park sponsored by the Order Sons of Italy in America, Grand Lodge of Illinois and Wisconsin. The parade kicks off on State Street between Wacker Drive and Van Buren Street at 12:30 p.m., with a reception afterward from 3 to 6 p.m. at Casa Italia in Stone Park.
Buses will transport participants to and from Casa Italia. To reserve your seat or for details, call 708-450-9050.
