In 1984, the Kroehler Family YMCA hired a high school kid from Woodridge to teach swimming lessons and lifeguard at its pools. I was no stranger to Naperville; Leonardo’s Pizza and Tasty Bakery were among my family’s favorite destinations. But my YMCA experience allowed me to explore Naperville’s vibrant downtown on my own. During the summer evenings of the mid-80’s when no grand plans were made, you probably saw me and my friends from Benet Academy convening in the parking lot of Cee Bees.
Of course, much has changed since then. Downtown has transformed itself and the farms largely gave way to new developments and schools. What has remained relatively constant is a dialogue about growth and preserving the character of the town.
After college and law school, I began working as an attorney at Knuckles & Jagel, P.C. on Jefferson Street. Along with many of our tenured staff, our firm has continuously employed many part-time North Central College kids, providing them spending money for the myriad downtown Naperville offerings. Dawn Moody, a principal with the firm and North Central College alumna, started with the firm as one of those young college students and continued to work for the firm all the way through law school.
Today, my family and I reside in our third Naperville house since 2000. The law firm is now named Keough & Moody, P.C., and is located at 114 E. Van Buren Avenue. I recently learned that the former owner of Leonardo’s Pizza sits on the board of directors for one of our clients. And 33 years after I started working at the YMCA (where my own kids learned to swim), our newly constructed office building sits directly across Central Park and the Kroehler Family YMCA.
