When driving east on the Kennedy Expressway, it doesn’t take much to pass up Norridge without noticing it. A town of less than 15,000, Norridge was incorporated in 1948 and is almost completely surrounded by Chicago. It is a town made up largely of European immigrants, first- and second-generation Italians and Polish, hard-working people who take care of their families and each other. It might be easy to miss Norridge if you’re not looking for it, but there is no missing what has been happening on Lawrence Avenue just east of Cumberland Avenue for nearly 30 years. When Cumberland Chapels …
Read More »Former Mayor Ronald Oppedisano
This month we highlight the career of a very charismatic, highly respected and active Italian-American community leader: Ronald Oppedisano. A successful property appraiser, Oppedisano is also former elected official, revered and respected in that role, and a wonderful family man. He’s the former president (mayor) of the Village of Norridge, Illinois in Cook County – the small community his parents moved to in 1961 after leaving the 4300 block of West Adams Street in Chicago. Oppedisano began his public service career in 1991 as a member, and later chairman, of the Norridge Zoning Board of Appeals. He was appointed to …
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