Obituary of Anthony Peter Paul Pellegrino

Anthony Peter Paul Pellegrino, 74, passed away on April 27, 2023 in Columbia, Missouri.  Anthony (Tony) was born in Lake Forest, IL on April 8, 1949, son of the late Anthony J. Pellegrino and Margaret Caldarelli Pellegrino.  Tony grew up in Highland Park, Illinois, attended University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire and held a variety of occupations throughout his life.  One of his favorite occupations was working with handicapped children. In addition, he helped start the American Taxi Company in Northbrook IL as their first cab driver, worked in landscaping, remodeling, and sales, and managed a self-storage facility.  After Tony’s mother had a stroke in 1995, he became her primary caregiver until her death in 2009. In recent years, Tony enjoyed trading options online.

Tony met Anne Lindley Hallberg (Decker) in 1987 at the church they both attended.  They married in November 1987 and celebrated their 35th anniversary in 2022.   Tony liked to quote Proverbs 18:22 which says “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”  The couple lived in Evanston IL, Waukegan IL, Highland Park IL (returning to the home Tony grew up in), Osage Beach MO and Lake Ozark MO.

Tony’s faith in his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was the solid foundation that supported him throughout the challenges of life. Serving in church was a way to express that faith. Over the years, he helped with equipment set-up and take-down, ran sound systems, was a choir member and served as a small group leader.

Tony was an avid sports fan, especially in the years of the Chicago Bears Super Bowl victory in 1985 and the Chicago Bulls championship run in the 1990’s.  Even more than sports, Tony loved music, especially  country, bluegrass and gospel, sometimes traveling long distances to hear live performances.  Tony also loved spending time at the Chicago Botanic Garden where he took many beautiful photos of the plants and flowers. 

Tony and Anne enjoyed traveling, visiting family and friends in North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee, Florida and Indiana as well as exploring other U.S. states.  Branson MO was a favorite destination and was one reason they moved to the Lake of the Ozarks area in Missouri in 2020.

Tony is survived by his wife, Anne; niece Dawn Flora (Mark) of Nashville TN; niece Carla Weiler (Matt Shanahan) of Oak Park IL; and nephew Chas Weiler (Kati) of Buffalo Grove IL.

In addition to his parents, Tony was preceded in death by his sister, Elaine Weiler of Wheeling IL.

A Celebration of Life service is being planned for Saturday, May 20, 2023 at Christian Life Church, Mount Prospect IL.  Visitation will be at 1:00 pm and the service will begin at 2:00 pm.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the  following organizations which were near and dear to Tony’s heart:

Disabled American Veterans (DAV)

https://dav.org

Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA)

https://pva.org

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