James Stramaglia has been working in the court systems for the majority of his professional life. He is now the Assistant Administrator of the Court Reporting Services of Will County Illinois. It was a career path that began unexpectedly; you could even say unknowingly.  After graduating from high school, James enrolled in some college courses at Oakton Community College in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. He started by taking some journalism courses. This could keep him busy while he worked on determining his true path in life.

That path opened up for James when a relative of a relative who was a court reporter for the Federal courts, introduced him to court reporting. The funny part about it was that his idea of court reporting was reporting on the courts for his journalism classes. Even with that first mis-impression, James was drawn to the job and started taking classes at the Chicago College of Commerce and became a certified court reporter. He found the field interesting and has worked his way up to the position he has now, leading a department as an assistant administrator.

James gives the credit for his faith and work ethic to his strong loving family environment. He had a unique upbringing since his family included 3 siblings (James being the youngest), his aunt and uncle and four older cousins who were just like siblings to him, all living in a three flat built by the family. He says that even though his parents were not overly religious, they were very devout to their Catholic faith. He attended St. Williams grade school. James recalls his early years as very positive and influential to who he is today. Mom and Dad and his aunt and uncle all promoted and maintained a very positive surrounding. All of the cousins got along and played together in the back alley. Everyone always looked forward to the big Italian Sunday family dinners; all of it right out of a Norman Rockwell painting.

Although James gives credit to his family for the positive upbringing, he puts a special light on his mother and who she was and how her influence was special to him and continues to lead him in his daily life. He calls her “a living saint” and his “north star and guiding light.” She had her own hairdressing shop and he recollects the story of his mother befriending a regular customer named Rosemary. One day after one of their many conversations, his mother asked Rosemary, “Are you a nun?” Rosemary replied, “Yes, I am.” It turned out that she was Sister Rosemary Connelly, one of the lead innovators of Misericordia, a community that cares for children and adults with mild to profound developmental disabilities located in the Chicagoland area.  They remained friends for many years with his mom becoming an active participant for fundraising events and activities, even serving on its fundraising board for a while.

There was a time when one of the cousins informed James’ mother that they were going to enter her into a recipe contest sponsored by Paul Newman. She came in third place winning a trip to the Rainbow Room in New York City and a $10,000 prize that was given to Misericordia. James says his mother lived by the motto “When you do a good deed, you don’t need to tell anyone about it because then it is like you didn’t do it at all.”  James still tries to emulate this every day.

James’ father also had a positive influence on his life, but in a much different way. His father was not a formally educated man, but he was very smart. He had the aptitude to build anything and the determination and work ethic to get it done. James talks about his father’s love for music. His father was not a professionally trained musician, but he had a great voice and loved to sing; anytime and anywhere. His style could give Andy Williams a run for his money but his favorite crooner was Vic Damone.  James thinks that his father probably invented karaoke or at least he could have. He sang with an Elk’s Club band called the Jolly Corks. They would perform at all of the many family parties. Some of the things his father built was centered around his love for music such as a music room and stereo music box.

James’ father didn’t say a lot of profound things. He was better known for his actions and hard work rather than his words. It was important for him to get things done and get them done right. One thing that he was known for saying is, “Work hard and don’t do anything to embarrass the family.” Those are words James still tries to live by on a daily basis.

James’ parents passed away in recent years within eight months of each other. Despite his loss, they left a lasting legacy that impacts James’ everyday life. When James was single and still living at home, his mother took advantage of chance meeting of the sister of one her regular guests who joined them at their house for one of her fundraising functions for Misericordia. It was the perfect opportunity for her to conduct an interview to determine if this lady would be good enough for her son. James did not always attend these functions and was not at this particular one. James found out the next morning from his mother and his father, separately, that they had indeed met his wife to be. He agreed to going on a blind date so that he could judge for himself. He concurred that his parents were right. He married Grace and they have raised two children, Maddalena-named after his mother, and a granddaughter named Frankie; short for Francesca, and his son Michael-named after his dad. Grace has worked in the hospitality field for more than thirty years and currently works for Best Western in their corporate offices.

James gives Grace the credit for being the one that not only keeps him, but their whole family grounded. She has been the planner of events, parties and activities that keep them all interacting and connected. She is one of seven children born into an immigrant family that without the benefit of a formal education, rose through the ranks by a dedicated and strong work ethic to go from an entry level position all the way to the corporate office. “She has been the glue that has kept this family together and strong.” Grace demonstrated that hard work ethic and passed it on to their children who are now living successful lives themselves.

While James’ values have centered around family, work ethic and commitment, he also has a passion for politics that began during his high school years at Holy Cross High School in River Grove Illinois. In general, high school was not a good time for him. James started late due to a severe case of hepatitis and says that humbled him and made him take a step back to look at things from a different perspective, not to assume anything. What he found was politics.  

During his junior year while working on a project about the political environment of the time that was assigned by his Social Studies teacher, he became familiar with Ronald Reagan. He began researching anything Reagan. He watched the video tape series from the GE Theater that was hosted by Reagan and any other recordings he could find. Eventually, he came across a video of a speech entitled-A Time for Choosing. Although he had been following Reagan and had already established his beliefs in Reagan’s principles, this speech cemented that support for Mr. Reagan.  

 During the 1976 Republican primary, James was following Reagan and listening to every speech he could. He listened to all the hourly primary results during the election season on CBS radio. James even contacted the Illinois coordinator for Ronald Reagan in an attempt to become a delegate. To his disappointment, he was turned down due to his age.  Gerald Ford ended up winning the Republican nomination, but at the convention in Kansas City, Ford called on Reagan to speak. His extraneous, unscripted, no notes speech, lasted fifteen minutes. That speech affected James for a lifetime.

James believes the most difficult part of living in today’s world is staying positive in such a negative environment. In his sixty-two years he has never felt as pessimistic as he does now. “People are angry with each other and nobody is listening to anyone else. We need to get back to our core values and bring God back into our lives. We need to be active participants in learning, educating and acting on our civic duties. Civics classes should be mandatory for all students.”

“We need to have a vision.” James believes that Ronald Reagan said it best when he talked about our “country being a shining city upon a hill whose beacon light guides freedom- loving people everywhere.”  James believes the way to accomplish that is to “listen to each other more and get good people to run for office and be accountable. We are running out of time and we have no choice but to change the structure of our political systems and its inner workings.” In reference to Reagan’s infamous speech James said, “It’s our time for choosing.”

James does his part by being active in politics; not as a politician, but as someone who devotes much of his time and energy in supporting those whose principles, he believes in. This is not an easy task in such a polarized political environment.

What helps James keep his sanity is his second passion-music. Remembering the sound of his father’s voice singing the great songs of the past, brings back his vision of a time worth returning to.

James believes that his parents and family are that beacon that he can draw his strength from; their faith and values. It is what gets him through difficult times and he said, “It’s something we should be striving to do for our children and future generations to come.”

His living words of inspiration that he strives for on a daily basis come from the person who demonstrated her love and faith to her family and to her world; his guiding light and north star, his mother. Her final words she said to James were “Carry on my life.” That is something we should all be striving for.