Neighbors in the News

• Local pediatrician Dr. Don Hoffman has retired from Elmhurst Memorial Healthcare after nearly 36 years in practice. A fund was established in his honor; it will be used to purchase two bronze statues that will be temporarily installed at the Elmhurst Memorial Center for Health. They'll be permanently installed in a garden outside Elmhurst Memorial Hospital's new pediatric unit, which is slated to open in 2011. Hoffman also has served as the Elmhurst Clinic's CEO for the past 12 years and has held numerous other leadership positions.

• Fred W. Leonard of Glen Ellyn was honored as a 50-Year Licensee of Funeral Service at the Illinois Funeral Directors Association convention last month in Schaumburg. He also was recognized for his years of service to both the community and the funeral service industry.

• John Nardulli of Roselle, a student at Illinois State University, is the 2008 recipient of the Peter V. Vitucci Memorial Scholarship. The $1,000 award honors Peter V. Vitucci, a 1991 graduate of ISU's criminal justice sciences program who worked as a Wood Dale police officer until he was killed in a car accident in 1992. Nardulli, a criminal justice sciences major, is a member of the Alpha Phi Sigma honor society, serves as its webmaster and lends a hand to internship fairs, fundraisers and a secret Santa program for needy children. He is captain of an intramural softball team and lead singer of the band The Last Pair. He plans to pursue a master's degree in criminal justice and then work for a federal agency.