John F. Falzone

John F. Falzone, 80, Morris Chapel, TN, former Cherry Valley resident, died February 13, 2023 in Cancun Mexico. Born May 15, 1942 to Joseph Paul and Noma Talbert Falzone in Rockford, Il. John attended West High School, and married the love of his life, Kathleen M. O’Neil on June 17, 1961.

John started his 40 plus year career in the bowling industry at State and Madison Recreation as a pin setter in the late 1950’s. He went on to become the general manager at State and Madison Recreation; Viking Lanes in south Beloit, and The Cherry Bowl in Cherry Valley, Il. During the 1970’s John co-founded The Greater Rockford Bowlers Journal, was a bowling sports reporter for WROK radio and WIFR 23 Television. He co-hosted Bowling for Dollars on WREX13. He was an administrative assistant for The American Bowling Congress. John raised $25k for Muscular Dystrophy when he broke the Guinness Book of World Record for Consecutive Games Bowled. He also served on the Bowling Proprietors Association Tournament Committee and created the largest first place prize in team bowling, $100k, in 1980. John was a television Coordinator for CBS Sports Spectacular from 1979-1981, working with such celebrities as Ed McMahon, Shelly Winters, Jerry Lewis, and Telly Savalas, just to name a few. John was a co-founder and served as the President and Commissioner of The Ladies Professional Bowlers Tour from 1981-2003. He reached an agreement with ESPN to televise women’s bowling which became the highest rated women’s programming. While working with them he produced over 400 shows for the network. John sold the largest corporate sponsorship in the history of the sport of bowling to the Boyd Gaming Corporation, Las Vegas, Nevada for $3.5m in 1994. Affecting Women’s professional bowling for many years to come. All of these accomplishments led to John being named one of the Most Influential People in the bowling industry and was named Person of the year by the bowling industry in 1994. He worked with the Women’s International Bowling Congress helping to raise $2.5m for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. He worked with Billie Jean King and the Women’s Sports Foundation in New York in support of Title 9.

John served for over 25 years on the Cherry Valley Zoning Board in the Village of Cherry Valley, Illinois. He was a Board member of The Greater Rockford Italian American Association, and a Committee Member of Festa Italiana for 40 years. John served as Festa General Chairman in 1988, 2003 and 2012. John was a committee member of the Men’s Italian Golf Open for several years. He will be remembered for cooking Italian Sausage, and serving with his wife Kathy, at many of the Men’s Italian Golf Opens.

John was named a trustee to The International Bowling Hall of Fame and Museum. He was inducted into the Rockford Area Bowling Hall of Fame; Illinois State Hall of Fame; The Italian American Hall of Fame; and was the first man to be inducted into the Women’s Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Fame. John was never one to sit still, so after retiring from his Bowling Industry Career, he moved on to his next career as Co-owner of Cherry Valley Garden Center and Tomato World in Cherry Valley, Illinois. John was passionate about growing tomatoes from seed and at one time had over 120 varieties of tomatoes. His desire to grow included saving dying plants for friends and family members and creating new plants from clippings or seeds. He also found great joy in working with flowers, herbs and vegetables. Come rain or shine, if John could work in the greenhouse or the yard, his heart was truly happy.

During these years he also kept busy helping local politicians with Campaigns and Fundraisers. He was the special events planner for then Winnebago County Board Chairman; Scott Christiansen and Campaign manager for Marc Gasparini and John Penney. If you needed to raise money, or put on a large dinner or special event, John Falzone was always your Go To Guy.

He found a second home and love for Island life in Isla Mujeres, Mexico. John and Kathy spent over a decade of winters there, making countless friends from the island and all over the world. John was especially drawn to the locals and the ocean, spending nearly every sunrise fishing on his favorite pier. He would bring his catches to the area locals who oftentimes prepared them for his and Kathy’s dinners. If he didn’t plan to eat them, he would give them to local friends who would.

In 2021, John and Kathy moved to Morris Chapel, Tennessee. There he lived next door to his son Benny and kept busy helping care for Benny’s property and gardening in their joint garden. His plans never ended as he was preparing to start selling tomato plants this year at a local garden stand and flea market.

John’s love for working with the public and thinking out of the box, combined with his easygoing personality, made John’s life and careers colorful and memorable. His greatest passions were his loving wife Kathy first and foremost, in addition to the rest of his family, his Italian Heritage, his love for gardening and Isla Mujeres, Mexico. He will be affectionately remembered for his signature, “How you Doin?” greeting, his “Later Dude” goodbyes to grandchildren, his love for storytelling, his can do attitude, and his deep love for his family and friends.

John is survived by his wife, Kathy; daughters, Bonnie Falzone-Capriola (Brian Martin), Brenda Phillip (Dan); son, Benny Falzone (Kerry); 9 grandchildren, Joseph Capriola (Michaela), Ryan Capriola (Keeley), Barry Capriola (Vaneekia Miller), John Phillip (Elizabeth), Anna Phillip, Anthony Falzone (Will Boelcke ), Kristen Brewer, Brandon Falzone (Becky), Rocsi Falzone and 13 great grandchildren; sisters, Dixie Wagner and Mary Crowell (Bob) and numerous nieces and nephews.

Predeceased by his father, Joseph; mother, Noma; brothers, Raymond, Donald and Joseph, and grandson, Barrett (Barry) Falzone.

A time of visitation for John will be held from 9:00 -11:00 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, 2023 in Fitzgerald Funeral Home & Crematory, Mulford Chapel, 1860 S. Mulford Rd. followed by a Memorial Service at 11:00 a.m. Memorials may be made to the family to be used at a later date. Send condolences and share memories at www.fitzgeraldfh.com.