The Entertainer PARK PLACE OF ELMHURST RESIDENT RECALLS A LIFE OF LAUGHTER “I always wanted to be a comedian,” Joe Vinci says, “but I was afraid people would laugh at me.”
“I liked both careers,” he says. “Both of those things are a part of my story.” He may have been skilled in the world of finance, but entertaining was his passion. From a young age, he was the life of family parties, breaking out his accor- dion and even inspiring admiration in a young man named Ed Vodicka, a family friend’s son who would one day become the Chicago Cubs’ organist. Today, Eddie honors his friend Joe by playing complimentary concerts for the Park Place residents. “It’s good practice for him, and brings great happi- ness to us here,” Joe says. Joe retired from accounting at age 60, but continued his musical career, playing part-time at churches, funeral homes, and anywhere else he could lift people’s spirits with his unique gifts. Music was a language that spoke louder than words could, espe- cially in times of grief. “I still love music, all music,” Joe says. “That’s one of the things I love about living here. They bring in entertainment, different kinds, all the time. Some I like better than others, but everyone is some- body’s favorite. The staff here just want to make sure they have something for everyone.”
Joe’s delivery is impeccable, the comic timing of a seasoned performer. As he sits in his Park Place of Elmhurst apartment and tells a story of his child- hood, he interrupts himself to ask, “Did you hear the one about the rope?” Then adding, “Just skip it.” Joe and his wife Barbara were the first people to move into Park Place of Elmhurst when it opened in 2012. “We spent four years researching where we wanted to move,” he remembers. “We knew we were getting the best value here overall, but people who work here were just tremendous from day one, and they kept it up after we moved in. Everyone here just wants to take care of you.” Joe knows what it’s like to find creative ways to make people feel at ease after spending most of his life as a successful entertainer. He laughs easily as he recalls his vaudeville days, where he and his wife brought their unique blend of comedy and music to crowds on the West Side and in downtown Chicago. During the day, he was a buttoned-up accountant, but at night, he and Barbara made people forget their worries and lose themselves in music and laughter.
6 Providence Life Services • With You, For You
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