Gianfranco Farruggia (1953-2023)

 

Sicily, December 2022

My good friend and colleague at North Park University, Gianfranco Farruggia, passed away suddenly on January 15.

Gian and I both taught in the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park.  He joined the University in 2003 after earning his PhD from The Union Institute in 2001.  We first met when I joined the School of Business and Nonprofit Management in 2014.  We instantly became friends.  I was assigned a faculty mentor who did not really have the time for me that Fall Semester of 2014.  Gianfranco took me under his wing and was my de facto mentor teaching me the ropes of the administrative responsibilities, the ins and outs of student advising, and basically being a great buddy just providing guidance and great advice on all the nuances of my new career. 

Over the ensuing years, that friendship grew.  He was among my select few best friends at North Park.  Whenever we were on Campus, we would meet in his office or mine and chat.  We would go to lunch and chat.  We talked about anything and everything from politics, University issues and news, our families, his Italian heritage, and my Armenian, and just about anything else that was in the news or came to our minds.  We could be serious, thoughtful, academic, philosophical, nostalgic, and, of course, humorous in our talks and time spent together.  I loved that we could talk about anything.  We could disagree and still discuss without the kind of polarization that is so prevalent these days.

We would do this over espresso, as we both had machines in our offices, or over lunch.  We last talked on Thursday, January 12.  We planned to meet on our first day of classes on Wednesday, January 18 for coffee before my 8 am class and then again for lunch before attending the University Martin Luther King commemoration.  That did not happen.  I don’t think I will ever have a morning coffee without thinking of Gian.

Gianfranco was as true and as good and genuine a people person as I have ever known.  He knew and kept in touch with faculty, staff, administration, former colleagues, and associates.  I have heard many pleasant and similar stories in this regard since his passing.  Each one has warmed my heart.  He was engaging with everyone the same way he was with me.  People loved and admired him.  If he got excited about something or upset about a something political at the university or in local, national, or international politics, he would emphatically make his points and use the hand gestures in a way I can only describe as Italian.  He might disagree with folks on campus and get aggravated, but he was quick to forgive and for the most part forget.

We were the same age.  We were both turning 70 this year.  It was very likely that we would have had low key celebrations spanning the entire year.  Sadly, that is not to be. 

Here are some examples of our buddy banter.  Being just one month older than me, I took to calling him my elder.  We were both on the Faculty Senate.  He was elected as a School of Business and Nonprofit Management in the last year of my three-year term.  I took to calling him the junior senator.  He pointed out that he served in the Senate well before I joined North Park.  After that I referred to him as the elder statesman which he liked.  When he would come to my office for espresso, I would always ask him if he wanted a corto (short or normal shot) or lungo (long or double shot) knowing he always took a short.  He read every one of my blog posts and loved to ask me, “Where do you come up with this stuff?”  or “One day, I am going to figure out how your mind works.”  I admired his easy-going professorial chic wardrobe.  I always told him I wanted him to take me shopping.  We had a lot of laughs.  Sometimes, I thought of ourselves as the grumpy old Muppet guys, Statler and Waldorf.

Gian was born in Sicily and came to the US as a young lad.  He loved his Sicilian roots, Italian cars, Italian cuisine, and, of course, the language.  He has family in Sicily.  Over the years he had gone and visited several times.  He always talked about how wonderful life was there.  This past summer, after all the Covid restrictions, he spent almost a month there.  He came back a rejuvenated man.  He enjoyed it so much he was set on moving there upon retirement.  He, also, went back during the Christmas break.  He would send me several photos a day of where he was and what he was doing.  He was planning to go again in September for a family wedding.  To celebrate his returnm, I had found what I thought was an excellent Italian restaurant and café in Wilmette I wanted to take him there and get his expert opinion on their quality and authenticity.  He was planning on taking a few of us to Calo Ristorante in Chicago which met his high standards.

Many folks on campus reached out to me to express their condolences on Gian’s passing.  All of them said they knew how close we were and commented on how often the saw us together on campus.  I never really thought about how much time we were together on campus.  It was that kind of very natural and comfortable friendship. 

Gian was an excellent professor.  I could write about this but it is better coming from two of his former students.

Lydia Vander Stelt (2019, 2022) wrote this about Gian on a LinkedIn post: “He brought incredible amounts of passion and insight both in and outside the classroom. He was intentional about making local nonprofit connections and highlighting their work. He even had us sit in on board meetings which was an important opportunity - all things I have taken with me upon graduating!”

Another student of his, Jomarie Gonzales (2018), commented on Lydia’s post: “Farruggia and I had a quick connect here on LinkedIn just a few weeks ago. He was always a genuine supporter and had an eye for spotting talent in the classroom. So glad he knew the likes of you, and vice versa. He is a very missed professor indeed.”

Both Lydia and Jomarie perfectly captured the essence of the beloved Professor.

I will miss my colleague and good friend.