Construction business owner, public servant

Longtime construction business owner; Des Plaines public servant

Herman Divito ~ 1921-2007

Herman Divito was nearly a lifelong resident of Des Plaines who enjoyed his membership in the Des Plaines Elks Club as much as he did serving on the city's plan commission for 25 years.

However, his lasting contribution is found throughout the Northwest suburbs. Mr. Divito was president of the Joe. B. Divito & Co., which provided sewer and water main construction for both commercial and residential projects in Des Plaines and its surrounding communities.

Now, colleagues are mourning his loss. Mr. Divito passed away Saturday at age 89.

Mr. Divito was born in Chicago, but he grew up in Des Plaines and graduated in 1939 from Maine East High School. During World War II, he was a Navy pilot and was stationed in Hawaii.

He married Olivia DiDomenico in 1946, and the couple settled in Des Plaines, where their three children later were born.

Mr. Divito's father, Joe Divito, started his own company in 1953 in Des Plaines, just as the area was beginning to experience suburban sprawl, mirroring the development of O'Hare International Airport.

Over the years, Divito & Co. helped advance land development projects in Des Plaines, Glenview, Buffalo Grove and Arlington Heights, family members said. The firm worked with residential contractors Norwood Builders, McKay-Nealis Builders, and Franczak & Associates, all in Des Plaines.

Mr. Divito's company also worked on projects with Arthur J. Rogers & Co., in developing business and industrial parks in Des Plaines and Elk Grove Village.

"He was a very old-fashioned kind of contractor," says his daughter Jan Brady of Brookfield. "He was very hands-on and got right in the ditches, even in his dress clothes."

Mr. Divito's grandson Brett Duffy of Algonquin worked as a laborer in one of the company's construction crews, and the experience made a lasting impression on him, as he learned the business from the ground up.

"Now I'm designing the underground sewers and water main lines for subdivisions that he used to build," says Duffy, a civil engineer with SPACECO in Rosemont.

Mr. Divito drew on his knowledge of suburban municipalities and their infrastructures to serve on Des Plaines' plan commission for 25 years, including being chairman for 17 years.

When he wasn't working or attending meetings, Mr. Divito enjoyed bowling at the old Des Plaines Bowl, and playing golf. He was a scratch golfer at Itasca Country Club, and every year he took his children and grandchildren golfing on a trip to Florida.

Mr. Divito was preceded in death by his wife, Olivia. Besides his daughter and grandson, Mr. Divito is survived by two sons, Joseph, of Crossroads, Texas, and Alan of Des Plaines, as well as four more grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Visitation for Mr. Divito will take place from 11 a.m. until a 1 p.m. funeral begins Thursday at Oehler Funeral Home's Des Plaines chapel, 2099 Miner St. in Des Plaines.