Jules Giardina

Visitation for Jules J. Giardina, 92, of Kankakee, will be from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at the Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home in Bourbonnais. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Monday at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Kankakee. The Rev. Mario Quejadas will celebrate the Mass. Entombment will be in Mount Calvary Mausoleum in Kankakee. Memorials may be made to St. Martin?s Aquinas School Fund. He died Wednesday (Dec. 1, 2010) at Miller Center in Kankakee. Mr. Giardina was born June 13, 1918, in New Orleans, La., the son of Vincent and Pauline Solomoni Giardina. He married Mary Ruder Oct. 14, 1944, at St. Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Kankakee. Mr. Giardina was a 1935 graduate of Kankakee High School. He was a charter member of St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church (1951). He was president of the Holy Name Society in 1959. He was also a choir member and served on the first Parish Board, where he was a chairman. He was a Lay Minister at St. Martin of Tours and brought communion to the sick. He also assisted in coordinating the merger between St. Rose School and St. Martin School. He set up the first census of St. Martin Parish. Mr. Giardina was an usher and a lector at Mass. He was a rosary leader since 1959. He helped establish St. Martin?s School Board. He served in all phases of building St. Martin?s Church, school hall, church rectory and new church center. He loved his church and attended daily. He was a 4th Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. Mr. Giardina donated 33 gallons of blood to the Red Cross. He volunteered for Meals on Wheels for 21 years, was a charter member of the Kankakee Valleyaires and belonged to the Barber Shop Chorus. He was the program chairman, uniform chairman and chairman of the first Barbershop Show in Kankakee. He enjoyed writing poetry, playing bridge with his club, singing and almost all sports. He was a Chicago Cub fan, a diehard member since 1929. He had a Cub Village, compliments of his daughter, and hoped all could see it lit up. Mr. Giardina started working in 1936 at the Roper Assembly Plant as an industrial engineer. He was promoted to senior industrial engineer in 1950 and retired in 1981. He was a member of the Industrial Management Club and served on that board for three years. He took classes in human engineering, work simplification and passed an exam in management works time measurement (this set all standards for assembly line methods and layouts and time promotion management.) He also served on the Roper Keyman Board for three years and was president of the Club his last year that he served on the board. During World War II, he served as an inspector of explosives at the Joliet Arsenal, retiring as a consultant. All of the above could not have been done without his dear wife and loving family. Surviving are his wife, Mary Giardina, of Kankakee; two sons and one daughter-in-law, Martin and Laurie Giardina, of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Gary Giardina, of Kankakee; one daughter and son-in-law, Jayne and Roger Thompson, of Springfield; seven grandchildren, James and Grace Thompson, Jessica and Michael Giardina, Emily, Andy and Abbey Giardina, and their mother, Barbara; one brother and sister-in-law, Vince and Jan Giardina, of Bourbonnais; and many nieces, nephews and godchildren. He was preceded in death by one son, James ?Jules? Giardina; his parents; and siblings, Ralph Giardina, Rose Moreno, Mary Mitchell, Bridget Caleca, Joe Giardina, Madeline Baker, Veneda Castongia and Sam Giardina.

Jules Giardina

June 13, 1918 - December 1, 2010