Longtime Huntley village manager Tomaso dies

Huntley lost the architect of its recent development Wednesday night when Village Manager Carl Tomaso died unexpectedly.

As village manager for the past 11 years, Tomaso was widely credited as being instrumental in the village's growth and development.

Tomaso, 56, known for exercising twice a day, died in his Woodstock home.

A preliminary cause of death was listed as cardiac arrhythmia due to an enlarged heart, said Kim Bostic, deputy coroner for McHenry County.

Tomaso's proudest achievement was overseeing Huntley's sprawling new village hall from conception to construction, Village President Chuck Sass said.

As a hard-working man of honesty and integrity, Tomaso always put Huntley's needs first, Sass said.

"He lived and died for the village," Sass said.

Reeling from news the man at the center of their village had died, Huntley village staffers were, nonetheless, at their posts Thursday.

"He wouldn't want us to miss a beat," Village Clerk Rita McMahon said. "He'd always say, 'You have to have a unified front.' And that's what we'll do. We're not going to let Carl down.

"But there's a hole that won't be filled, she said.

Tomaso had worked to shore up Huntley's infrastructure to support new growth and had been working hard toward getting a full interchange at the intersection of Route 47 and I-90 and widening Route 47 throughout town.

"He'd be mad he didn't get to finish those," McMahon said.

An example of Tomaso's efficient thinking, said Trustee Harry Leopold, was his leadership in changing the village's form of government to its current administrative form.

"That was a tremendous step in the right direction," Leopold said. "He was most passionate about providing the best services for the least amount of taxes for our residents"

Tomaso also was a passionate sports fan, Leopold said.

"He was a very serious Bears fan and a very serious Notre Dame fan," Leopold said.

"He was extremely intelligent, extremely focused, very hard driving," Trustee Paul Mercer said. "His focus and his drive were the things you really remembered about him."

Tomaso is survived by his wife, Nancy, and sons Joe, who just finished his freshman year at Loyola University, and Danny, a student at Marian Central Catholic High School.

Funeral arrangements were pending.