Bernardi Securities founder Edward Bernardi dies

Bernardi Securities founder Edward Bernardi passed away peacefully on March 21 in his Lake Forest, Illinois, home. He was 95.

Bernardi co-founded Chicago-based Columbian Securities in 1961 with two fellow recipients of the Chick Evans Scholarship, awarded by the Evans Scholars Foundation, which enabled him to graduate from Northwestern University in 1952.

At Northwestern, Bernardi played third base on the college baseball team, according to his official obituary. He went on to play in the minor leagues and serve in the U.S. Army, from which he was honorably discharged in 1954.

After an early job as a toy distribution company salesman, Ed made the leap into the municipal bond business.

"Both Columbian and Bernardi were big risks," said Matt Bernardi, Ed's grandson and senior vice president, investment specialist at Bernardi Securities. "Columbian, at the outset, he had to? mortgage his house and go in (with his) partner, so that was a big risk. Obviously, there were a lot of unknowns in being newer to the business."

Ed Bernardi remained president of Columbian until 1984, when he founded Bernardi Securities with his son and a few other colleagues.

"He lived a wonderful life," said his son, Bernardi Securities President and CEO Ron Bernardi. "He was an excellent bond guy? He had a lot of good friends from the bond business. Personal connections just meant so much, especially when he started (Columbian) in 1961. He and his partners were nobody."

Ed Bernardi was active in the precursor to today's Municipal Bond Club of Chicago, and had a strong work ethic; when Ron was young, he said, his father "was basically gone from Monday to Friday afternoon" working on bond deals.

He taught Ron how to run a business, and "how to treat people firmly, fairly and empathetically," as well as "how to compete properly. You wouldn't have come across a more competitive person, but he had a way about him that some of his foes in the business ended up becoming his friends," Ron said. "It wasn't a zero-sum game; the pie was big enough."

Ed had a strong sense of civic responsibility, said Ron and Matt. He served as president of the Union League Club of Chicago and the Union League Boys & Girls Clubs Foundation, the charitable arm of the city club.

"That's another one of the legacies that he's imparted to us, and the family is involved with the Union League Club," Matt Bernardi said. "He knew that he didn't come from much. He came from a very modest background, with his parents being immigrants. His dad was a landscaper at the country club where he caddied and then eventually got that Evans scholarship. His mom was a housemaid. And I think just giving back to young kids, many from immigrant backgrounds, was something that was a natural fit for him."

Bernardi also authored two historical fiction books on pre- and post-war Italy, "The Reluctant Patriot" and "Kill the Devil Twice."

"He had such an active mind," said Matt Bernardi. "He was always, always thinking, always doing something. He retired in the early 2000s, but he never fully retired his mind. And even in the final days of his life, he was always there, very sharp, asking about the business. Asking about our children, his great-grandchildren."

Bernardi devoted as much energy to his family as he did to his work, said Tom Bernardi, another grandson and senior vice president, portfolio manager at Bernardi Securities. He taught them humility and "obviously, hard work," Tom said, "but life's not all about work. You know, having that balance, that perspective," spending time with spouses and children, "and just honoring the past family members who allowed you to be where you are today."

With characteristic humor, Bernardi would sometimes recount stories from his early years in the muni bond business, his son said ? like the days when people in the industry would gather at Italian Village, a longstanding restaurant in Chicago's Loop.

"On Fridays he would usually go" to the restaurant, Ron said. "He would go and buy lunch. He might have a beer, but then he'd go back and work."

But another group of muni bond pros would stay and drink. At around 3 p.m. on Fridays, Ed would call them and see if he could talk them into a favorable deal, his son said.

"He had a lot of friends in the business for a long time," Ron Bernardi said.

"There've been massive changes in the business from those early days, but the focus, the niche, is unchanged, and that dedication to this specific sector was always his goal," Matt Bernardi said. "It was always his recommendation to remain focused, but maybe broaden how we can serve our clients within the sector. That was kind of the eternal guidance from him."

Bernardi is survived by his wife of nearly 70 years, Mary Silvia Bernardi; his children Adria Bernardi (Jeffrey Stovall) of Nashville, Ronald (Elizabeth) Bernardi of Lake Forest, Michelle (John) Landis of Lake Forest, and Jennifer Bernardi (Alan Platt) of Chicago; his grandchildren Matthew (Kristi) Bernardi, Thomas (Catherine) Bernardi, Luke Bernardi, Jacob Stovall (Melissa), Grace Landis, Isaac Stovall, Peter Landis, Livia Platt and Russell Platt; and his great-grandchildren Tess Bernardi, Elle Bernardi, Grace Bernardi, Anna Bernardi, Claire Bernardi and Nicolette Bernardi, as well as his sisters-in-law Linda and Lillian.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to the following organizations: Union League Boys & Girls Clubs, Western Golf Association Evans Scholarship Foundation or the Parkinson's Foundation.

Visitation will be held on Monday, March 30, from 4:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. at Seguin & Symonds Funeral Home, at 858 Sheridan Road in Highwood.

On Tuesday, a funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10:30 A.M. at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, 928 W. Everett Road in Lake Forest. Interment will follow at Ascension Cemetery, 1920 Buckley Road in Libertyville.