The ECCI Centennial Celebration NFP’s Capital Campaign officially surpassed its Civic Hall of Fame public memorial fundraising goal of $50,000 in June, thanks to a generous five-figure donation from the 2020 HOF Inductee couple of Scott and Charity Ahlgrim, formerly of Ahlgrim Funeral Home in Elmhurst.
“It was a gift from Charity that jumped started our Capital Campaign back in July of 2016,” stated John R. Quigley, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce and Industry President and CEO since 1999 and NFP President since its inception, “and now it’s gone full circle as she and Scott have allowed our not-for-profit organization to exceed its Civic HOF fundraising goal.”
The Ahlgrims donated “in recognition John’s 30 years plus of dedication and service, and countless hours of tireless work to help the businesses of Elmhurst survive, grow and thrive.”
“I am humbled that Scott and Charity chose to recognition me in making their donation,” stated Quigley, who is among Illinois’ longest-tenured chamber executives and has been actively involved with ECCI since 1991 while representing Elmhurst College (now University).
The Civic HOF Fund is part of the NFP’s one-of-a-kind $250,000 Capital Campaign, which was created in honor of ECCI’s 100th Anniversary in 2018. To date, the Ralph P. Pechanio Student Internship Endowment Fund at Elmhurst University has doubled its $150,000 goal and the Second Century Fund has exceeded its $50,000 goal.
Pechanio’s Endowment Fund reimburses ECCI for the 40 percent of student intern salaries not reimbursed by EU’s participation in the Illinois Board of High Education’s (IBHE) JOBPATH program, while the Second Century Fund provides unrestricted monies to fund the NFP’s charitable, civic and educational endeavors.
In August of 2021, the NFP purchased more than $15K in TouchPros hardware and software for development of a Civic HOF public memorial, which will feature a TouchWall interactive, touch-screen TV monitor (65 inches) on which users can view biographies, photographs and video clips of each of the inductees. A Civic HOF website will go live later this year and the TouchWall is expected to be installed at a temporary site by year’s end.
Since its creation in 1992 as part of the Opening Ceremonies at Elmfest, the Civic HOF has inducted 32 businesspeople, community volunteers and elected officials. Since Elmfest’s end in 2009, inductees have been honored at ECCI’s Annual Awards Gala in all but one of those years.
The late Joe Newton, legendary boys’ cross country coach at York Community High School was the inaugural Hall of Fame inductee.
The Ahlgrims were inducted into the Civic HOF at ECCI’s 102nd Annual Awards Gala in the Normandy Banquet Room at Elmhurst American Legion THB Post 187 on September 8, 2021.
A fourth-generation funeral director, Scott Ahlgrim owned and operated the Ahlgrim Funeral Home in the Spring Road Business District for 22 years before his March 2020 sale to another family-run funeral operation with locations in Lake Forest and Chicago.
Scott Algrim became a Licensed Funeral Director upon graduation from Worsham College of Mortuary Science, following the legacy of his great-grandfather Arthur—who opened the Ahlgrim Undertaking Parlor in Chicago in 1892—grandfather Walter and father Arthur, whom he joined in 1986 and eventually succeeded in 1998.
After serving as a community banker in Elmhurst for more than four decades—the last 12 years as Vice President and Business Development Officer at Community Bank of Elmhurst—Charity Ahlgrim retired in 2016 to work with her husband at Ahlgrim Funeral Home.
Charity Ahlgrim (Pigoni then) started her Elmhurst banking career at York State Bank in the York and Vallette Business District and continued through ownership changes to First Colonial Bank, Firstar Bank and then US Bank, taking over the Spring Road branch.
Scott Ahlgrim is a Past President of the DuPage County Funeral Directors Association and served on the Board of Directors of the Funeral Directors Service Association of Greater Chicago and Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center.
A member of the prestigious Order of the Golden Rule and their 2016 their Exemplary Service Award recipient, Scott Ahlgrim also was a member of the DuPage Funeral Directors Association, Funeral Directors Service Association of Greater Chicago, Illinois Funeral Directors Association and National Funeral Directors Association.
A 1975 graduate of Elmhurst’s York Community High School, Scott Ahlgrim served on the Board of Directors of the Elmhurst Walk-In Assistance Network.
The Ahlgrims were long active in the organization and events of the Spring Road Business Association. Scott served as President for multiple years prior to his retirement and Charity also was a multiple-term President.
The Ahlgrim Funeral Home parking lot served as the staging area for the Annual Spring Road Pet Parade each May.
The Ahlgrims were both active members of the Rotary Club of Elmhurst, which recognized Charity for her role in the Polio Eradication Program. Scott is a Past President.
Charity Ahlgrim played an instrumental role in the founding of and organizing of Elmhurst’s Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, along with realtor Frank Catalano Sr. and the late Doug Kuester, then Owner of Great American Exteriors. In 2002, the trio was honored to ride as the Parade’s Grand Marshals.
Originally conceived during the Ahlgrim’s wedding reception as a St. Pat’s Day Parade entry, the Elmhurst Armpit Orchestra honored Charity as its St. Patrick’s Day Queen and Scott as its Distinguished Service Award recipient, both in 2015.
Charity Ahlgrim partnered with The Silverado Grill on both a State of Illinois award-winning Business and Education Partnership Program for youths (1991-2016) and the American Cancer Society’s Elmhurst Relay for Life.
For years, Charity Ahlgrim assisted recently-deceased Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan of Elmhurst and his wife, Marie, in staging the Annie Ryan 5-K Run to raise funds to advance treatments for pediatric brain cancer following the 1997 loss of their 12-year-old daughter.
The Ahlgrims were supportive ECCI members, with service on the Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Standing Committees, Special Event Committee and the green-coated Ambassadors.
Scott Ahlgrim was elected to a three-year Board term (1997-99) that ended the same month that Directors approved the hiring of Quigley as President and CEO to succeed the late A.J. “Toche” Terrones, who passed away the previous July after a 10-year tenure.
Ahlgrim Funeral Home joined ECCI way back in July of 1956, when the funeral home first opened in Elmhurst.
Charity Ahlgrim was elected twice to three-year ECCI Board terms (2007-13) after her 2006 appointment to fill a Director’s seat, and was re-appointed to fill a vacancy in 2015 after serving two one-year appointed terms as Board Treasurer (2014-15), an Executive Committee position. In 2016, she was elected to the Executive Committee as Second Vice Chair and chair of the Membership Committee following her decade of service on the Marketing Committee.
A longtime volunteer at the Steak Fry and Elmfest (where the Ahlgrims regularly staffed the Entertainment Center ticket booth), Charity also served as a Chamber Director in the 1990s and is a former member of the Chamber Ambassadors.
Charity Ahlgrim is a two-time recipient of the Chairman’s Award (2011 and 2016), which is traditionally given to a member of the Chamber’s Board of Directors for his/her outstanding service to the Board, Chairman and President/CEO or to a non-Director for praiseworthy contributions or performance.
Charity Ahlgrim also was elected Treasurer for the City of Elmhurst from 2005-09, and served as an appointed Board member of the Elmhurst Police and Elmhurst Fire Pension Funds, with 2006 certification from Northern Illinois University.
She served as a Trustee for the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Foundation, Board member for the People for Elmhurst Parks (PEP) Foundation, Planning Committee member for Elmhurst American Legion’s Military Ball and a member of League of Women Voters of Elmhurst.
The couple’s blended family includes three children and four grandchildren.
Established in 1918, the Elmhurst Chamber of Commerce & Industry is a voluntary organization of business and professional men and women who have joined together to promote the civic and commercial progress of the community.
The Elmhurst Chamber’s mission is to promote an environment that creates success for local businesses and our community.
The Chamber also serves the needs of its members through services, programs and events that provide opportunities for networking and referral, business education, development and promotion, governmental representation and community involvement.