St. John the Baptist Alumni

Class of 1981

My name is Chuck Zydek and I am a member of SJB's graduating class of 1981. I began my academic career at St John's in 1973 about a month into 1st grade. My family moved to Winfield from Cicero, IL where I attended Five Holy Martyrs school in Chicago. In 1973, Winfield was a much different place than it is now. The town was much more rural at the time and only had about 2500 residents. Winfield didn't even have a stop light until I was in high school! I knew I loved the school right from the start but had no idea what a big part it would play in my life even 50 years later. Not only did I attend SJB, but so did my daughter Bailey (Class of 2012). I've had a chance to be a student, parent, coach (I coached six years of basketball and volleyball at the school) and even Athletic Director for five years. I am still friends with many of my SJB classmates and still communicate with several of them weekly.

I have many great memories of SJB. My favorite teacher was Mr. Gedvilas, who capitalized on the fame of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team by building hockey nets for my class to utilize at lunchtime on the playground (the current site of the main church). He was a first-year teacher at SJB when I was a 7th grader and was my daughter's 7th grade and Social Studies teacher 30 years later. I remember playing 16" softball every day (as 7th and 8th graders) on that same playground at lunch - so many fun times and so many arguments with the classes of 1980 & 1982 over close calls! (HAHA). Mrs. Carstensen, Miss Franiak, Mr. Van Demon and Miss LaBonte, who uncovered my love of numbers, were other significant teachers in my SJB days. I will always remember Monsignor Cloos and his dog Silver. Monsignor always said our class sang "Ave Maria" the best of any class in SJB history and always had us come up to the altar to sing it at First Friday mass.... sorry other classes! Finally, while our record wasn't always sterling, I loved playing basketball at SJB. In those days there weren't A & B teams, and I remember coming in with our team of 8 to play against large schools like St Joan of Arc and Ss. Peter & Paul who would have as many as 30 players on their bench! 

After St. John's I went on to high school at Wheaton North. While I enjoyed my experience there also, I never felt the

same "family atmosphere" I experienced at SJB. After two years at College of DuPage, I went on to Northeastern Illinois University. I majored in Secondary Education (Social Science emphasis) with the plan of becoming a high school Social Studies teacher and coach. Late in my college career I switched my emphasis to Business Management. Following graduation, I began my career at Verisk Analytics (then called Insurance Services Office) which is an insurance data analytics/actuarial company. I have worked there for almost 35 years, beginning my career as a Field Representative before moving into management 27 years ago. 

When the pandemic began in 2020, I found myself with more free time than I expected. I always had an idea that I wanted to write a book about the history of DuPage County high school sports but never had the time (I am a huge history buff, especially sports). This was the perfect opportunity. I began researching that spring and 3-1/2 years later the finished product was published with the help of my 1981 SJB classmate and friend, Mark Roskuszka, owner of Wally's Printing. The book is called Farms to Fields, Prairies to Prep Sports and it covers the history of football, boys' basketball and baseball going back to the early 1900's. It is available by contacting me at czydek2@gmail.com. I really enjoyed the research component and found that I actually enjoyed writing too. I have a few more ideas for books I'd like to work on when I retire.



I've been blessed with a great wife, Lisa, for over 30 years, a wonderful daughter, Bailey, who is a Special Education teacher and high school coach, and a career that I have enjoyed. Along the way, I have also fulfilled the dreams of coaching I had when I was in college. The years I spent at St. John's were some of the best of my life and the friendships and memories have stayed strong. When my family moved to Winfield when I was 6 years old, I wasn't initially very happy about it, but 50 years later I am grateful God led my family from Chicago out west to the best town and best school in the USA!