BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter?fspielman@suntimes.com March 7, 2012 1:08PM
Marshall Suloway, former longtime public works commissioner for Mayor Richard J. Daley. This Provided Photo for Obit taken Thanksgiving, 2009
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Updated: March 8, 2012 2:26AM
Marshall Suloway was a gifted engineer-turned-public works commissioner who built bridges and expressways for Chicago?s builder-mayor Richard J. Daley.
But he was so much more than an engineer. He was an unassuming and lovable people person who captivated family with his storytelling and found a way to connect with everyone he met.
Mr. Suloway, died last week of congestive heart failure. He was 90. He worked as an engineering consultant on O?Hare Airport and CTA projects until the age of 84.
?Some engineers are brilliant at what they do, but my dad was a brilliant engineer and a people person. That?s what made him so successful. He did both,? said Patty Boheme, Mr. Suloway?s daughter.
?He had such a unique way of connecting with people and making them feel comfortable. It wasn?t fake at all. People just fell in love with him right away. He had a very special formula.?
Marshall Suloway was born on Sept. 13, 1921. His father owned a Hyde Park hardware store. His mother was a homemaker.
After graduating from Hyde Park H.S. and earning an engineering degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Mr. Suloway met Betty Jane Hively, whom he loved ?more than life itself? and would become his wife of 57 years.
The couple put their romance on hold while Mr. Suloway served as an Air Force navigator on a B-17 that bombed the beaches at Normandy on the first day of the invasion during World War II.
?He was scared and he felt extremely lucky. A lot of his friends and comrades didn?t make it back. That effected him forever in good ways and bad,? Mr. Suloway?s son, John, recalled.
When Mr. Suloway returned home, he married Betty and went to work for the Illinois Department of Transportation, first as a surveyor and draftsman, then as district engineer for the Chicago area.
That?s where he caught the eye of Daley, who hired him away from the state to become Chicago?s assistant chief engineer and, ultimately, public works commissioner presiding over construction of the Kennedy and Dan Ryan expressways and countless movable bridges.
During the reconstruction of McCormick Place after a devastating fire, Mr. Suloway took 8mm movies of a pivotal dock wall with the same camera he used to make home movies of his children. Family members fondly recall having to sit through 20 boring minutes of the dock wall to get to the family stuff.
?Dad was so proud to work for Richard J. Daley. A lot of people have that vision of him as kind of a gruff man who was Back of the Yards Irish, but Dad told us how brilliant he was. He was an accountant, had a photographic memory and was brilliant with the budget,? John Suloway recalled.
?The thing that dad really loved about the mayor was he respected professionals. Dad was allowed to do his job. Whether he was chief engineer or commissioner of public works, the mayor let Dad do his job the way it should be done.?
Jim McDonough, who served as Daley?s streets and sanitation commissioner during that time, recalled that Mr. Suloway?s quiet competence was a sharp contrast to his predecessor, Milton Pikarsky.
?When Milton was commissioner, he drove me crazy. He was always trying to impress the mayor at everybody?s expense but his own, but the mayor was onto him,? McDonough said.
?Marshall was just the opposite: a down to earth guy who was not a prima donna by a longshot. The mayor liked him. He was a good engineer, but not braggadocios or a guy looking for headlines or glory. He had a lot of responsibility and he did it very well.?
After Daley?s death and the Blizzard of ?79 that buried Michael Bilandic, Mr. Suloway was retained by then-Mayor Jane Byrne only to have his 14-year career at City Hall come to an end in a dispute over Byrne?s controversial decision to kill the Crosstown Expressway.
Mr. Suloway, who worked on the Crosstown under Daley, vehemently disagreed with Byrne and was promptly shown the door. He was inundated with job offers from around the world and went on to spend the next 27 years as a vice-president and senior consultant for Envirodyne Engineers.
Edward J. Bedore, Daley?s longtime budget director, joined Envirodyne?s Jim Blanusha in spearheading the move to honorarily rename the LaSalle Street bridge after Mr. Suloway to recognize his years of service.
?He was a good, down-to-earth engineer and one honest person. I can?t say enough about what I felt about him,? Bedore said.
Former City Architect Jerry Butler, who succeeded Suloway as public works commissioner, added, ?He was one of the more professional individuals I have ever had the opportunity to work with. Daley brought in so many of these young people. It was a great place to work.?
Less than a year ago, an electrical fire in the basement of Mr. Suloway?s home across the street from Taft High School blackened the interior and destroyed all the furniture inside. Mr. Suloway was not injured, but was forced to live with family members, which was just fine with them.
?I only had one hero. That was my dad. He was the best father you could ever have,? John Suloway said.
?He was understanding and he taught you lessons by example. His work ethic was unbelievable. He gave you guidance, but let you make mistakes. And you always knew you could come back to him.?
In addition to son, John, and daughter Patty, Mr. Suloway is survived by son Scott; sisters Irene and Shirley; grandchildren Christian, Sasha, Max and Alex; and a great- grandson Luke.
Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Donnellan Family Funeral Home, 10045 Skokie Blvd. in Skokie. Funeral services will be held there at 10 a.m. Saturday.
In lieu of flowers, the Suloway family requests that donations may be made to the Little Friends Center for Autism, 1001 East Chicago Avenue, Suite 151, Naperville, IL 60540 or the Kellogg Cancer Center, NorthShore University HealthSystem Foundation, 1033 University Place, Suite 450, Evanston, IL 60201.
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