Publications & Sites 
River Forest village president candidate discusses life, career
Cathy Adduci moved to River Forest in 1995 and has served as a village trustee since 2008. She says she never wants to live anywhere else. | Provided
Updated: March 4, 2013 1:51AM
RIVER FOREST — Current River Forest trustee and village president candidate Cathy Adduci retired from Unisys Corp last year, concluding a 32-year career that saw her rise from a marketing rep to vice president for North American Outsourcing.
First elected village clerk in 2006, she was elected to a trustee seat in 2008. She declared her candidacy for village president last year and will face fellow trustee Mike Gibbs in the April 9, 2013 election.
Adduci and her husband, Al Ronan, moved to River Forest in 1995, built a spacious home and have raised a daughter, Jenna, now 17. She is a student at Fenwick High School in Oak Park.
For many years Adduci served on numerous boards, including the After School Matters organization in Chicago, the Chicago Civic Foundation and the board of directors of her alma mater, Northern Illinois University.
After retiring from Unisys, Adduci formed her own consulting firm, CMA & Associates, which focuses on helping not-for-profit organizations with their information technology strategies.
Forest Leaves will talk to Gibbs soon, but for this week, we had a few questions for Adduci.
Q: Without getting into political issues, how do you view the past four years on the village board?
A: “Four years ago, we came together (along with Gibbs) to bring back a consensus-driven approach. (And) to bring back civility.”
Q: What made you decide to move to River Forest?
A: “I have a lot of friends here. When I was pregnant with Jenna, I knew I wanted a community with good schools and good values. But not far away from Chicago. It didn’t take me two minutes to decide I wanted to live here.”
Q: What do you miss, and not miss, about your business career?
A: “I enjoyed the work and (challenges). But it was becoming more and more of a challenge for me, with all the travel. Some weeks I’d travel to New York, then turn around and fly to California. The time element was becoming more of an issue.”
Q: What else motivated your decision to retire?
A: “My daughter’s a junior at Fenwick. I wanted to be able to spend some time with her. And I have an aging mother who (until recently) lived at home with me. It was the right time for me.”
Q: You’re a big proponent of development here, including more local restaurants?
A: “I am. Many (River Forest) people go to Madison Street in Forest Park and Lake Street and Oak Park Avenue in Oak Park. They don’t want to travel to downtown Chicago for dinner. And they’d like to (have options) here.”
Q: Are you planning to stay in River Forest?
A: “Oh, yeah. This is my home. I love this place. We built this home to stay.”
