July 11, 2024
Recently, we lost one of the long-time members of our Mercy Home family with the passing of John Joseph “Johnny” DePalma.
DePalma was an institution at Mercy Home, known and loved by all, and always easily striking up conversations with coworkers throughout the hallways.
Born Anthony DePalma at Cook County Hospital on December 4, 1945, he was raised by a foster family before coming to live at Mercy Home in 1962. The Home at the time was led by Monsignor Edward J. Kelly, who was President since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
DePalma came to be seen as a leader among the boys and a leader at his school. According to an interview DePalma gave in 2017, as a senior at Crane High School, his gym teacher made him responsible for the nearly 400 kids in his class, taking attendance and ensuring they completed their work. His other teachers put him in charge of printing out exams and master answer keys. At Mercy Home DePalma was a positive presence and helpful to Fr. Kelly.
DePalma fondly recalled his days at the Home, especially dances with girls from the nearby Rita Clubs in the Home’s gymnasium and putting on plays at the Home. His love for theatre was born in the few good memories he had of his foster family, ones where they would see productions like “The Ten Commandments” and then enjoy a delicious dinner in the Walnut Room of what was then Marshall Field’s.
DePalma was an institution at Mercy Home, known and loved by all.
He also recalls the tumultuous moments of the era, including the Vietnam War, which claimed the lives of a number of his friends. “I cried a lot here,” he recalled. “Had to go to a lot of funerals.”
DePalma left the Home in 1968, but only briefly. After being laid off from R. Cooper Jr. due to a national strike in 1970, he approached Fr. Kelly to ask for a job. Fr. Kelly hired DePalma on the spot, and he continued to work as part of our facilities team until his retirement in 2009.
Eventually, he resided full time at the Home while he faithfully fulfilled countless tasks and responsibilities. His abiding presence around our halls earned him the nickname “The Mayor of Mercy Home,” though he also argued for the title of “The Mayor of Taylor Street” due to how engrained he was in the culture of that nearby neighborhood. He had gotten to know the families at Carm’s Little Italy and Fontano’s Subs and he would help dish out delicious Italian ice at Mario’s whenever Mario himself would need extra hands.
DePalma was also a voracious reader and student of history, especially World War II. His apartment was filled with books and video tapes on the subject.
In 2010, Mercy Home named the garden on our West Loop Campus in DePalma’s honor, in light of the many hours he enjoyed tending to it. “Naming the garden after Johnny following his retirement was our way of saying thank you,” Fr. Scott said. “It was a fitting way to express our gratitude to Johnny for his commitment to the Home and to making a beautiful environment for our young people in which to live and grow.”
That same year, Mercy Home helped him legally change his name to John, the name by which he had gone for most of his life.
More recently, DePalma left his residence at the Home for an assisted living facility and passed away on June 4 following a brief illness. Throughout DePalma’s last years, our retired Facilities Director Tom Scheffers took great care of him, managing all of his needs.
Naming the garden after Johnny following his retirement was our way of saying thank you,
– Fr. Scott Donahue
In the months ahead, Fr. Scott will celebrate a memorial Mass at Mercy Home in the chapel, which DePalma also loved. Mark Teresi, a dear friend of DePalma’s and a former Mercy Home coworker, has agreed to provide music for the Mass.
In a story published on Mercy Home’s web site based on the 2017 interview, DePalma provided first-person insights into life at Mercy Home during the 1960s. You can read it here.
Meanwhile, please join us in keeping Johnny in our hearts and in our prayers.
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