Watch him on Channel 6 during Riverside village board meetings and you understand why people sometimes refer to John Scully as “the general.”
Maybe it’s the no-nonsense approach, his desire to cut to the chase and resolve issues instead of debating them over and over. Or the fact that he doesn’t take a lot of guff from anyone. Or it could be that he actually is a retired Army general.
Scully is also the 2010 Riverside Person of the Year as chosen from a field of more than 30 candidates by the Riverside Chamber of Commerce and Riverside Township Lions Club. The announcement came at the chamber’s steak fry on June18, and Scully will be officially feted during Riverside Day on Monday, Aug. 23 at a dinner at the Riverside Golf Club.
While the public has gotten a good dose of Scully’s serious side in his role as a village trustee for the past nine years, he also has a sense of humor.
Asked his thoughts on receiving the award, Scully joked, “It means that I’m old.”
He quickly added that the award at least in part belongs to his wife, Judy, who has worked with him as a volunteer for many organizations and causes
“It’s recognition for the things Judy and I have done in the village of Riverside,” said Scully, who was notified of the award by Bill Scanlon, a former colleague on the village board and a fellow member of the Lions Club.
“I think anybody who looks at John’s record of volunteer work has to be impressed with two things, the scope of that work – he’s been active in all aspects of village life – and his longevity. He’s done it for decades,” Scanlon said. “Anyone has to be impressed with John’s every endeavor to be serving the village of Riverside.”
Two other of Scully’s former colleague from the village board have received the Person of the Year Award in recent years. Candice Grace received the award in 2009, while Harold J. Wiaduck Jr. snared the award in 2007.
“I didn’t expect it,” Scully said.
While Scully retired in 1992 at the rank of major general from the U.S. Army Reserve, where he led the 102nd U.S. Army Reserve Command and retired as human resources senior vice president at LaSalle Bank in 2006, he is still very active.
In addition to serving as a village trustee in Riverside, Scully still serves as a civilian aide to the secretary of the U.S. Army for Illinois. He has been affiliated with the Army since 1964. After four years on active duty, he entered the reserve.
A graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a master’s degree from DePaul University, Scully also served on the DePaul finance department advisory council and the Notre Dame Alumni Association. He was attending a meeting at Notre Dame when Scanlon called his cell phone to break the news of the award.
In Riverside he is also a past president of the St. Mary School board and a former member of the parish council and parish finance committee. He also co-chaired the Riverside United Way and is a member of the Riverside-North Riverside VFW Post 6869.
He’s also been a member of the Riverside American Legion, Chicago Heart Association, Union League Club and USO of
Illinois.
