Bidding farewell to those we lost in 2018

As we look forward with optimism for the year ahead, it's fitting that we also look back, with no shortage of sadness, at those we lost in 2018.

It was a year in which we lost accomplished musicians who entertained the suburbs for decades and dedicated philanthropists who served those in need both close to home and around the world.

We bid farewell to a trailblazing scientist so far ahead of his time he was known as "the Wizard," and a pioneering writer who highlighted world-class cuisine in the suburbs.

And we said goodbye to a businessman who made his name selling cars, but found his passion in helping children, and faithful public servants who spent decades making their communities better places to live.

Here's a look at some of the notable suburban deaths of 2018:

Bob Mansfield

Jan. 6: For some three decades, the sound of Mansfield's piano serenaded diners at the Palm Court restaurant in Arlington Heights. From Beethoven to Pink Floyd, Gershwin to Prince, he could play it all, even though he never learned how to read music. Mansfield, 63, of Rolling Meadows, died of heart-related complications and stroke.

Art Rorheim

Jan. 5: Co-founder of AWANA, headquartered in Streamwood. Under Rorheim's leadership, first as executive director and then as president from 1992 to 1999, AWANA expanded to 9,000 churches in 90 countries, involving 700,000 children and youths in a given week. "If you're to win kids to the Lord, they've got to have fun," he once said of AWANA. "We developed AWANA to draw kids from the community through our church doors by providing games, prizes, awards, special events, excitement and a sense of belonging." He was 99.

Dick Mattick

Jan. 27: An accomplished suburban jazz pianist who specialized in the music of the 1920s through the 1950s. He was the leader of the popular Dick Mattick Swingtet and a fixture at Hackney's Restaurant in Glenview in the 1990s and early 2000s. Mattick also was a Barrington resident and successful business owner. Mattick also served as president and co-owner of Mattick Business Forms, a family-run company that was started in Chicago in 1921. He also owned Mattick Antiques in Barrington. He was 80.

Kevin Hauber

Jan. 27: Veteran Buffalo Grove firefighter/paramedic died after a four-year battle with colon cancer. He was 51. "He grew up in Buffalo Grove and became a firefighter because his childhood dream was to protect and serve," his family said in a statement after his death.

Timothy Allen "Tim" Busse

Jan. 31: The longtime owner of Busse Farm in Elk Grove Village and a scion of a family instrumental in founding the suburbs He was 65. Busse's death came just two weeks after he sold his family farm to a development group building what's been billed as a potentially $1 billion technology park. "They were big, rugged, tough, American farmers who had been through good and bad," family friend and attorney Dan Dowd said. "Tim was just a man of his word. He was a generous guy. You could take his handshake and go anywhere on it."

Jack Blane

Feb. 19: A force behind Rotary International's PolioPlus campaign and two-time president of the Rotary Club of Wheeling. He was 94. It was a conversation with Bill Gates Sr. - the father of the Microsoft co-founder - that helped lead to a multibillion dollar commitment from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to fight polio around the world.

Ronald Pavlock

Feb. 23: The former Mount Prospect police chief, Pavlock was remembered for his community involvement and encouraging his rank-and-file officers to discuss anything with him. Under Pavlock, Mount Prospect became one of the first police departments in Illinois to receive national accreditation, a process through which the department showed it met a list of stringent standards established by a national organization consisting of law-enforcement officials and civilians. He was 77.

Bill Stasek

March 19: Perhaps best known as the owner of Stasek Chevrolet in Wheeling, but friends say his true passions were helping children and spending time with his grandkids. His professional life intersected with philanthropy when the Inverness resident organized "First Look for Charity," a black-tie event on the eve of the Chicago Auto Show. Over the past 26 years, the event has raised $48 million for charities, including $2 million for The Cradle in Evanston. Stasek served on the board of directors for the nonprofit organization, which helps place children in permanent homes. He died at 70 after a battle with leukemia.

Shari L. Caine

March 30: The longtime curator at the Des Plaines History Center and its executive director since 2011 died after battling cancer. As director, Caine led the reinvigoration of the center following the recession, officials said. Those efforts included rebuilding the professional staff and renovating display rooms in the Kinder House and History Center. She was 52.

Dean Grant

May 10: Grant rose from an ambulance driver to health care system CEO, He was remembered for leading the growth of the Alexian Brothers Health System into a major force in suburban health care. "Dean was very instrumental behind the scenes in making an awful lot of things happen for the Alexian Brothers," said Brother Thomas Keusenkothen, former president and CEO of the Alexian Brothers Health System. "We talked about it being something like Mayo Clinic." He was 74.

The Rev. John W. Tapper

May 20: Served as associate pastor at Our Lady of the Wayside Parish in Arlington Heights, St. Cecilia Parish in Mount Prospect and several other Northwest suburban Catholic churches. Most recently was pastor emeritus of St. Ansgar Parish in Hanover Park. He was 82.

Michael A. Tosto

June 23: A longtime Elk Grove Village trustee, volunteer firefighter and World War II veteran. He was 91. Tosto was a trustee from 1973 through 1995, and before that served from 1963 to 1973 as an original member of the village's fire department. "Mike was known for his storytelling skills and the everyday enthusiasm he brought to the village," Mayor Craig Johnson said. "As Mike would always say, 'Atsa you, atsa me.' Mike Tosto will be missed, but never forgotten."

Philip Barry

July 2: Elk Grove Village's volunteer extraordinaire. A 35-year member of the Sheila Ray Senior Center; an early member of Lutheran Church of the Holy Spirit; charter member of the Elk Grove Village Historical Society; a member of the Lions Club and the VFW; and president of the Des Plaines Valley Geological Society for eight years. "Life is more interesting when you get involved," Barry once said. He was 96.

Edwin Haase

July 29: Simultaneously served as a district chief of the Prospect Heights Fire Protection District and as a lieutenant with the Hoffman Estates Fire Department before his retirement 17 years ago. He was 67. Haase had briefly worked as a school maintenance employee in Prospect Heights before his fire career began.

The Rev. Michael A. Olivero

Aug. 4: Recently retired pastor of St. Cecilia Parish in Mount Prospect and former pastor of St. Stephen Protomartyr in Des Plaines. Olivero, 70. served as pastor at St. Stephen Protomartyr from 1993 until 2005, when he was appointed to the same position at St. Cecilia. He served in that role until his retirement June 30. "He was a very fine liturgist and preacher, always present to his people who were always and foremost in his mind," said Monsignor John Pollard, a former classmate.

Salvatore Thomas Leopardo

Aug. 24: A longtime resident of Elk Grove Village and Elgin, he was one of the founders of Leopardo Construction in Hoffman Estates and Chicago. Leopardo already had been a successful writer, engineer and executive for General Telephone Corp. in Northlake for 32 years when he retired and helped his oldest son, Jim Leopardo, form the family's construction business He was 88.

Richard Frisbie

Aug. 28: The author of seven books and 400 magazine articles; a reporter and assistant features editor at the Chicago Daily News for seven years; editor of Chicago Magazine for two years; advertising agency creative director; and self-employed publishing and marketing consultant for more than four decades. Frisbie also served 44 years as an elected member of the Arlington Heights Memorial Library board. With the library, he became known as a champion of intellectual freedom and the First Amendment. "He was a fierce proponent of maintaining those values," said David Unumb, who spent a little more than two decades on the board, some of that time alongside Frisbie. "I think it was actually bred into his own experiences as a writer and old-time newspaperman." He was 91.

John K. Marquette

Sept. 4: An acclaimed suburban theater director and longtime teacher in Northwest Suburban High School District 214, he was remembered for living a life full of warmth, wit and humor. Marquette taught and directed at John Hersey, Buffalo Grove, Prospect and Notre Dame high schools, mentoring dozens of talented young people, some of whom went on to great success in show business. A highlight of his career came in 2010 when Ian Brennan, who starred in Marquette's production of "Fiddler on the Roof" at Prospect, won a Golden Globe as a writer for the TV show "Glee." The same awards show featured another of his former students, actress Jennifer Morrison. He was 81.

William Cadigan

Sept. 22: A longtime Arlington Heights resident whose work as a civil engineer helped shape the Northwest suburbs. Spent his career advancing the planning and development of such growing communities as Arlington Heights, Mount Prospect and Hoffman Estates during their boom years in the 1960s and '70s. In Arlington Heights alone, Cadigan designed all of the stormwater retention basins. He also designed the groundbreaking piping that brought Lake Michigan water to Arlington Heights, Buffalo Grove, Palatine and Wheeling back in the 1980s. "Bill designed the infrastructure that we rely on," said former colleague Chris Burke of Christopher B. Burke Engineering in Rosemont. He was 91.

Thomas Freeburg

Sept. 17: Former Arlington Heights resident known as "The Wizard" for his forward thinking and ingenuity. He spent 40 years at Motorola before retiring in 2003 as corporate vice president, director of technology and chief futurist. Colleagues said Freeburg was ahead of his time when it came to foreseeing the implications for wireless technology. "He saw wireless data as being a critical part of the future. And people really didn't understand that at all," said Dennis Roberson, a onetime colleague at Motorola. "And now that's, of course, laughable because our cellphones, our smartphones, are all about data." He was 75.

Lois Seiler

Oct, 10: The Daily Herald's first women's editor and went on to create the "Cook of the Week" column, showcasing suburban cooks and their recipes. Her career with the Daily Herald spanned nearly four decades, until her retirement in 1986. "She shined a spotlight on suburban moms and dads, creating lovely meals for their family and friends," said Eileen Brown, vice president and director of strategic marketing and innovation for the Daily Herald. "Remember, this was before Food Network and most people thought that fine dining was only to be found in fancy restaurants." Seiler was 92.

Jim Moser

Nov. 6: Arlington Heights resident who owned businesses in the HVAC and custom homebuilding industries, and rallied friends, family and colleagues to raise more than $100,000 to open an offshoot of the Center for Independence Through Conductive Education at St. Francis de Sales Church in Lake Zurich. It since has served 75 children with physical disabilities, providing more than $1.5 million in charitable care. "He's the most generous person I've ever met," said Kelly O'Malley-Sherkey of Mount Prospect, whose son John Sherkey, 14, has attended the center for the last 10 years. He was 75.

Tom Cerasani

Nov. 18: The longest tenured and winningest football coach in Schaumburg High School history, Cerasani compiled a 105-98 record in his 21 years as head coach of the Saxons. He took Schaumburg to the state playoffs seven times and won five Mid-Suburban League championships. He was 112-109 for his career, spending two seasons at Palatine before taking over the reins at Schaumburg in 1984. "As a coach, his ability to evaluate personnel was unparalleled. As a person, we would all do well to emulate his compassion for others," said Schaumburg High's current coach, Mark Stilling. He was 71.

Robert Buckley

Nov. 28: Former Cook County and state appellate judge from Arlington Heights with a legal career that spanned more than four decades. Also served 31 years in the military Distinguished Flying Cross, the Meritorious Service Medal and more honors for his service as a pilot in the European Theater of World War II. "Bob was part of the Greatest Generation. He was a true war hero," said Sheila O'Brien, who served on the appellate court with Buckley for eight years. "He was a flyer with wonderful stories about World War II and the heroism of our troops." He was 94.

Judy Abruscato

Dec. 28: A dedicated public servant, Abruscato spent 26 years on Wheeling's village board, including four as village president. She moved to Wheeling with her husband in 1969, and immediately became an active part of the community, serving at various times on the Wheeling High School Parent Teacher Organization, the Wheeling High School Instrumental League, the Wheeling Lioness Club, the Wheeling Rotary Club, the Wheeling/Prospect Heights Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the Wheeling Garden Club, the Wheeling Historical Society and the Wheeling Senior Center Foundation. "Judy's positive impact on the community is immeasurable," Village Manager Jon Sfondilis said.