Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
A pair of Illinois Italian Americans were among this year’s recipients of the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. Attorney Enrico J. Mirabelli, corporate executive Sergio “Satch” Pecori and 90 others received their medals during a May 11 ceremony on Ellis Island.
Mirabelli is a family law attorney with more than 37 years of experience. He served for 10 years on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Board of Governors and has served on the ISBA General Assembly and Family Law Section Council.
Mirabelli has been honored by the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Corporation, John Marshall Law School, National Center for Exploited and Missing Children and the Legal Assistance Foundation. He has been annually selected as a Leading Illinois Attorney in Family Law, and since 2015 as among the Best Lawyers in America in the field of sports law and family law.
Mirabelli is a frequent lecturer at family law seminars sponsored by the Illinois State Bar Association and has lectured at the John Marshall, Loyola and DePaul law schools. He has testified before various committees in Springfield regarding family law-related bills and co-authored an amendment to Illinois’ Code of Civil Procedure. He was the first attorney in Illinois to establish cause for wrongful adoption, as well as third-party liability for sexually transmitted disease.
The son of blue-color Italian immigrants, Pecori is chairman and CEO of Hanson Professional Services, a national consulting firm providing engineering, planning and allied services. He joined Hanson after earning his master’s degree in geotechnical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has been with company for 45 years.
Pecori is a fellow of the Society of American Military Engineers, American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Council of Engineering Companies and serves on ASCE’s Industry Leaders Council. He has been honored by the UIUC’s College of Civil Engineering, Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, Secretary of Defense, Illinois Society of Professional Engineers and the Boy Scouts of America. He was a finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and he was inducted into the National Academy of Construction in 2018.
Since 1986, the Ellis Island Honors Society has annually recognized U.S. citizens for their accomplishments in their field and inspired service to the United States. On hand at this year’s ceremony was past Medal of Honor recipient George Randazzo.
