Palatine insurance executive remembered for his warmth, food
Guy Jacobucci drew an immediate fan base following his selection in July as a Daily Herald Cook of the Week.
The insurance executive, who formerly ran a restaurant in Palatine, appealed to readers with his old world Italian recipes learned from his mother, and his love of entertaining - from his Indianapolis 500 breakfast tailgates to his holiday parties.
Jacobucci of Palatine died Sunday after suffering what authorities said was an anaphylactic reaction to a bee sting. He was 49.
According to his friend, Rich Harty, Jacobucci had been out watering his garden when he was stung. Apparently, he had gone behind a hedge of bushes to turn on the spigot when the sting occurred.
"Guy did not know he was allergic to bee stings," Harty said. "I hope that this starts a conversation about allergies and getting tested. Potentially, this could have been avoidable if he had known and if he had carried an EpiPen. We'll never know, but I hope people get tested."
Jacobucci had spent more than 20 years in the insurance industry, and most recently worked as a senior vice president at Assurance in Schaumburg. Co-workers there said they are still trying to absorb the shock of losing such a big presence in their company.
"Guy was one of those people that there was no in between," said Jackie Gould, chief operating officer at Assurance. "Everyone that met him either liked him, or loved him. There was never anything on the lower end of the scale with him."
Gould described how he extended his warmth beyond the company, to the insurance clients he served.
"He was one of our brokers, which is very much a client-facing role," Gould added. "He had clients in a number of different industries, but he was a specialist in staffing and with professional employer organizations, who have particularly challenging insurance needs. He was an industry leader in that area."
In his Assurance biography, Jacobucci described his style as "hands-on" in working to build client relationships and develop strategic service plans. But he also included his background as a chef and pastry chef trained by Kendall College, something not often found on insurance executive resumes.
"He wore his heart on his sleeve, and everyone who knew Guy knew that he had a passion for cooking," Gould adds. "Many of us were lucky enough to get to experience it, in particular with his holiday cookie baking."
As part of his holiday tradition, Jacobucci personally baked more than 1,500 cookies to distribute to clients. According to Harty, it took eight weeks to bake, freeze and pack all of the batches, and he kept a spreadsheet of everyone's favorites.
Jacobucci had planned to start baking the first round for this year on Tuesday.
Jacobucci is survived by his sisters Rose (Rich) Gadzinski and Toni (the late Dale) Baikauskas; and several nieces and nephews.
Visitation will take place from 3 to 9 p.m. today at Smith Corcoran Funeral Home, 185 E. Northwest Hwy., Palatine, before a 10:30 a.m. funeral Mass Saturday at Holy Family Catholic Community, 2515 W. Palatine Road in Inverness.
• Daily Herald staff writer Christopher Placek contributed to this report.