LIBRARY CLERK TONY COLON, A TAVERN ROBBERY VICTIM
Jennifer Vigil, Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Tony Colon couldn't just write down the call numbers for books his patrons were interested in. He escorted them to the shelves.
Nor could the senior clerk allow colleagues at the Sulzer branch of the Chicago Public Library to pass carrying a large box. He'd carry it for them.
So it wasn't a shock to those friends that the young father would intervene when a man robbed a bar where he was making a phone call. In the struggle with a gunman in a North Side tavern, Mr. Colon was killed by a single shot to the chest.
"It didn't surprise any of us that he lost his life trying to be helpful," said a Sulzer clerk, Kara Mannix, who knew Mr. Colon for 15 years.
Mannix and other colleagues remembered Mr. Colon on Tuesday as a 32-year-old blur of motion, who addressed everybody as "Boss" and thrived on the personal connection he established with library patrons during his 13 years at the branch.
Mannix said Sulzer workers fielded about a dozen calls and received many more visits from area residents this week who wanted to share stories about the wiry person his peers had nicknamed the Thin Man.
"Tony was sort of bigger than life, not in size perhaps, but he was just a lot of fun," said Sulzer's director, Leah Steele.
The Von Steuben High graduate was recently promoted to the position of senior clerk, and he took over the circulation desk at the Bezazian branch.
After struggling to conceive, he and his wife, Cassie, had a child, Valerie, 20 months ago.
Mr. Colon also was devoted to his nieces and nephews. A bicycle enthusiast who favored classic Schwinns, he was building a two-wheeler for his niece Mary Joyce when he died.
Mr. Colon also is survived by his parents, Rita and Ray; three brothers, Reinaldo, Danny and Ricky; and his grandparents Crescio and Luz.
A service will be held Wednesday, beginning at 8:45 a.m. at Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave., and moving to Our Lady of Mercy Church, 4432 N. Troy St., at 9:30 a.m.
Jennifer Vigil, Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Tony Colon couldn't just write down the call numbers for books his patrons were interested in. He escorted them to the shelves.
Nor could the senior clerk allow colleagues at the Sulzer branch of the Chicago Public Library to pass carrying a large box. He'd carry it for them.
So it wasn't a shock to those friends that the young father would intervene when a man robbed a bar where he was making a phone call. In the struggle with a gunman in a North Side tavern, Mr. Colon was killed by a single shot to the chest.
"It didn't surprise any of us that he lost his life trying to be helpful," said a Sulzer clerk, Kara Mannix, who knew Mr. Colon for 15 years.
Mannix and other colleagues remembered Mr. Colon on Tuesday as a 32-year-old blur of motion, who addressed everybody as "Boss" and thrived on the personal connection he established with library patrons during his 13 years at the branch.
Mannix said Sulzer workers fielded about a dozen calls and received many more visits from area residents this week who wanted to share stories about the wiry person his peers had nicknamed the Thin Man.
"Tony was sort of bigger than life, not in size perhaps, but he was just a lot of fun," said Sulzer's director, Leah Steele.
The Von Steuben High graduate was recently promoted to the position of senior clerk, and he took over the circulation desk at the Bezazian branch.
After struggling to conceive, he and his wife, Cassie, had a child, Valerie, 20 months ago.
Mr. Colon also was devoted to his nieces and nephews. A bicycle enthusiast who favored classic Schwinns, he was building a two-wheeler for his niece Mary Joyce when he died.
Mr. Colon also is survived by his parents, Rita and Ray; three brothers, Reinaldo, Danny and Ricky; and his grandparents Crescio and Luz.
A service will be held Wednesday, beginning at 8:45 a.m. at Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave., and moving to Our Lady of Mercy Church, 4432 N. Troy St., at 9:30 a.m.
LIBRARY CLERK TONY COLON, A TAVERN ROBBERY VICTIM
Jennifer Vigil, Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Tony Colon couldn't just write down the call numbers for books his patrons were interested in. He escorted them to the shelves.
Nor could the senior clerk allow colleagues at the Sulzer branch of the Chicago Public Library to pass carrying a large box. He'd carry it for them.
So it wasn't a shock to those friends that the young father would intervene when a man robbed a bar where he was making a phone call. In the struggle with a gunman in a North Side tavern, Mr. Colon was killed by a single shot to the chest.
"It didn't surprise any of us that he lost his life trying to be helpful," said a Sulzer clerk, Kara Mannix, who knew Mr. Colon for 15 years.
Mannix and other colleagues remembered Mr. Colon on Tuesday as a 32-year-old blur of motion, who addressed everybody as "Boss" and thrived on the personal connection he established with library patrons during his 13 years at the branch.
Mannix said Sulzer workers fielded about a dozen calls and received many more visits from area residents this week who wanted to share stories about the wiry person his peers had nicknamed the Thin Man.
"Tony was sort of bigger than life, not in size perhaps, but he was just a lot of fun," said Sulzer's director, Leah Steele.
The Von Steuben High graduate was recently promoted to the position of senior clerk, and he took over the circulation desk at the Bezazian branch.
After struggling to conceive, he and his wife, Cassie, had a child, Valerie, 20 months ago.
Mr. Colon also was devoted to his nieces and nephews. A bicycle enthusiast who favored classic Schwinns, he was building a two-wheeler for his niece Mary Joyce when he died.
Mr. Colon also is survived by his parents, Rita and Ray; three brothers, Reinaldo, Danny and Ricky; and his grandparents Crescio and Luz.
A service will be held Wednesday, beginning at 8:45 a.m. at Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave., and moving to Our Lady of Mercy Church, 4432 N. Troy St., at 9:30 a.m.
Jennifer Vigil, Tribune Staff Writer
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
Tony Colon couldn't just write down the call numbers for books his patrons were interested in. He escorted them to the shelves.
Nor could the senior clerk allow colleagues at the Sulzer branch of the Chicago Public Library to pass carrying a large box. He'd carry it for them.
So it wasn't a shock to those friends that the young father would intervene when a man robbed a bar where he was making a phone call. In the struggle with a gunman in a North Side tavern, Mr. Colon was killed by a single shot to the chest.
"It didn't surprise any of us that he lost his life trying to be helpful," said a Sulzer clerk, Kara Mannix, who knew Mr. Colon for 15 years.
Mannix and other colleagues remembered Mr. Colon on Tuesday as a 32-year-old blur of motion, who addressed everybody as "Boss" and thrived on the personal connection he established with library patrons during his 13 years at the branch.
Mannix said Sulzer workers fielded about a dozen calls and received many more visits from area residents this week who wanted to share stories about the wiry person his peers had nicknamed the Thin Man.
"Tony was sort of bigger than life, not in size perhaps, but he was just a lot of fun," said Sulzer's director, Leah Steele.
The Von Steuben High graduate was recently promoted to the position of senior clerk, and he took over the circulation desk at the Bezazian branch.
After struggling to conceive, he and his wife, Cassie, had a child, Valerie, 20 months ago.
Mr. Colon also was devoted to his nieces and nephews. A bicycle enthusiast who favored classic Schwinns, he was building a two-wheeler for his niece Mary Joyce when he died.
Mr. Colon also is survived by his parents, Rita and Ray; three brothers, Reinaldo, Danny and Ricky; and his grandparents Crescio and Luz.
A service will be held Wednesday, beginning at 8:45 a.m. at Drake and Son Funeral Home, 5303 N. Western Ave., and moving to Our Lady of Mercy Church, 4432 N. Troy St., at 9:30 a.m.
Inscription
Son-Husband-Papi
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
