James C Nardi

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, December 29, 2007 in Howe & Yockey Funeral Home, Shelbyville with Rev. E. Wade Helmkamp officiating. Visitation from 4:00-7:00 p.m. Friday. Burial will be in Glenwood Cemetery, Shelbyville with military rites by the Shelby County Honor Guard. Memorials may be given to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Jim was born on January 30, 1924 in Springfield, Illinois. His parents were Chauncey and Josephine Cattinari Nardi of Nokomis, Illinois. The family moved to Shelbyville in 1935 and opened Nardi’s Tavern in 1936. Jim graduated from Shelbyville High School in 1942, enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served from 1942-1946. He was a radar operator on the U.S.S. Remey, a ship that was awarded ten battle stars while serving in the South Pacific during World War II. He returned to Shelbyville after the war and went to work with his parents in operating the tavern. In 1947 Jim married Erma Bullock and started their life together in their home on Main Street. Earlier this year they celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with family and friends.

Jim managed the family tavern with his mother until 1981, when they sold the business and she retired. He began a full time position with the U.S. Post Office as a rural mail carrier. It was a job he loved, and he enjoyed meeting new people and friends on the mail route. Jim was an avid sportsman, he loved being outdoors and in nature. He also dearly loved watching sports and was especially fond of the Shelbyville teams and also the University of Illinois basketball and football teams. He was a great sport himself and remained active throughout his life, playing ball, golf, ping-pong, pool, croquette, table games, etc. with his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. He was a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Shelbyville. He was a quiet man with a gentle voice who loved life and family. He will be missed so much by his family and his many friends he has known throughout his life.

He is survived by his wife, Erma; sons, Gary Nardi and wife Krista of Hudson, IL and Danny Nardi and wife Brenda of Normal, IL; daughters, Karen Biddle of Shelbyville, Connie Nardi Taylor and husband Don of Bloomington, IL and Brenda Ernst of Normal, IL; eleven grandchildren, Chauncey, Wyatt and Melina Nardi (children of Gary & Krista Nardi), Sarah and Jillian Nardi (daughters of Danny and Brenda Nardi), Angie Brachbill and Joni Gruen (daughters of Karen Biddle), Jared, Wesley, Lainey and Alec Ernst (children of Brenda Ernst); and four great grandchildren, Alexis Flore and Joel Brachbill (children of Angie Brachbill) and Emma and Isaac Gruen (children of Joni Gruen).

He was preceded in death by his parents.