Chicago Heights Flower Shops

Chicago Heights IL News

Nov 21, 2015

Paul Arrivo, the man behind Homewood Florist, dies at 83

Even after losing his sight, Paul kept a smile on his face," said Phil Panozzo, whose funeral home, Panozzo Bros. Funeral Home in Chicago Heights, has done business with Homewood Florist for decades. "He never complained or gave up. He was the man, the main cog in his business." Relying on his sense of touch and his hearing, Arrivo would navigate his way around the shop and even helped with some of the flower arranging, family members said. "He was amazing," said longtime employee Ann Blum, who began working in the shop as a designer in the 1970s. "Customers would walk through the door and he'd greet them by name just by recognizing their voices." The son of Italian immigrants, Arrivo was born and raised on the South Side. He was the youngest of five boys whose father owned a small grocery store. He graduated from Pullman Technical High School and in his late teens began working in his brother's floral shop in the Roseland neighborhood, where he grew up. During the Korean War, Arrivo enlisted in the Navy and served aboard the USS Botetourt (APA-136) in Europe and the South Pacific. After his discharge, he returned home and to his job in his brother's shop before opening his own in 1960. "He was a super, super nice guy and a great boss," Blum said. "He had a great sense of humor." Over the years, and as his business grew, Arrivo employed many young people, often teenagers taking their first job. "He was the one hiring the young kids nobody else would," Panozzo said. "He gave them work experience and helped build their self-confidence. That's the kind of guy he was." Other survivors include his wife of 62 years, Annabelle; two other sons, Michael and Paul; four daughters, Colleen Johnson, Deborah, Laura Elsner and Amy Golick; and 14 grandchildren. Services were held. Joan Giangrasse Kates is a freelance reporter. (Chicago Tribune)