Greg Molinari, a long-time staff member at the Linda Sokol Francis Brookfield Library, passed away from cancer on Tuesday, Dec. 23. He was 54.
In a press release, Executive Director Kimberly Coughran described the circulation assistant as a “cherished” staffer whose kindness, perseverance and connection with others will be remembered by staff and the greater Brookfield community. She said he joined the library in July 1997 and served guests at the checkout counter for the duration of his 28 years there.
“Greg endured through many challenges and served the library so well despite all of them with his kind, easy way,” Coughran told the Landmark in an email. “My favorite memories of him are of his great Halloween costumes, which he sometimes coordinated with other staff members in the circulation department.”
According to the Chicago Tribune, Molinari had a brain tumor when he was a child that left him legally blind. Despite that, he earned a college degree — sometimes riding the bus for five hours in a day to attend a single class, the Tribune reported — and loved to read.
Molinari’s memorial service will take place Sunday, Dec. 28, at Hitzeman Funeral Home.
