Theresa Giglio retired in 2013, ending 38 years serving countless students at Grant White Elementary. Over almost four decades in District 91, Giglio assumed a variety of roles, including “lunch mom,” school nurse and, finally, school secretary, where she remained for the last three decades of her career.
Soon after retirement, in spring 2014, the 63-year-old Giglio was diagnosed with lung cancer. She died nine months later.
At Monday night’s meeting, the village council unanimously approved a resolution honoring the late wife, mother and grandmother. The resolution highlights her “wonderful smile” and also dedicates a section of Brown Avenue near Randolph Street, directly outside Grant White Elementary, as “Theresa Giglio Way.” A dedication ceremony will be held at that location on Sept. 19 at 3:30 p.m.
Giglio was born in Chicago in 1951 but was raised in neighboring Berwyn. She met her husband, Frank Giglio, at a dance in 1967. After marrying in 1969, the couple bought a house on the 500 block of Marengo Avenue where they raised their three children, Anthony, Rosemarie, and Frankie.
Mayor Anthony Calderone, addressing a packed council chambers filled with a few dozen of Giglio’s family, friends and co-workers, said, “For anybody who ever walked into Grant White School, you would know that Theresa Giglio was the face of that school. There was a bright smile that greeted you. … She knew every single kid who walked in and out of that school by first name.
“It is not too often that a school, or a business for that matter, has a caliber of person like Theresa,” he added. “I just hope and pray and wish that as our world moves forward, many, many more people will take after her.”
Following the mayor’s remarks, an emotional Frank Giglio thanked the council members for their efforts and said, “The void will never be filled, but this will sure go a long way to mending the hearts of all of us that are broken. … I wasn’t born here or raised here but this is my town and it always will be.”
